


If You Find Me

by RowanSparrow



Series: When You Reach Me [2]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Gore, Clone Sex, Disguise, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Graphic Burn Injury, Graphic Description, Hurt/Comfort, Jedi, Lightsaber Battles, Lost Love, M/M, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Missing in Action, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Secret Relationship, Slow Burn, Smut, Trauma, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:09:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 46,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24565924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RowanSparrow/pseuds/RowanSparrow
Summary: Three months after the events of When You Reach Me, Rex and his men attempt to return to normal after coming back from what they were told was a botched training exercise on Kamino. Meanwhile, Fives has narrowly escaped being decommissioned by the Kaminoans and lives in hiding with a ragtag group of bounty hunters. With their memories erased of Clover and the rest of the events in the Labyrinth, the seven remaining troopers try to make sense of what remains of their fragmented memories and get to the bottom of the Republic conspiracy, while Fives starts to understand that the events of the Labyrinth left him with more power than he realized.*READ WHEN YOU REACH ME FIRST! THIS IS A SEQUEL*Tags will be updated as the story progresses.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, CC-5052 | Bly/Aayla Secura, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555/CT-7567 | Rex, CT-5597 | Jesse/CT-6116 | Kix, Plo Koon/CC-3636 | Wolffe
Series: When You Reach Me [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1530788
Comments: 233
Kudos: 147





	1. Incoming Transmission

**Author's Note:**

> Hi friends, long time no see. <3 
> 
> This sequel has been a long time coming. I hope you're as excited for it as I am!

_“Rex.”_

He didn’t remember where he was, or how he’d gotten there. All he knew was everything hurt. It hurt like _hell._

_“I don’t know when you’ll get this, or if you’ll ever get this.”_

Kamino. He was on Kamino. He was in a bacta tank. How had he gotten there? What was he doing there? Did he get injured? His skin felt raw. New. Like it had been healing over itself. Something had happened. He couldn’t remember what. What was going on?

_“Hell, I don’t even know if you’ll remember me, if you ever hear this.”_

He felt like he was choking, and realized there was a tube down his throat, helping him breathe in the tank. He grunted softly, trying to relax his throat as he kicked his way to the top, trying to bang on the lid of the chamber.

“CT-7567.” A tall Kaminoan Captain Rex recognized as Nala Se looked him up and down from outside the tank. “So good to see you’re finally awake.” She turned to a few medical personnel beside her. “Get him out.”

_“Listen.”_

The clone medical personnel began to open up the tank, carefully working Rex out. He was slick with the film of the bacta, naked as the day he was born. He took a deep, gasping breath as the tube was finally removed from his throat, and he coughed, body trembling as he looked up at Nala Se.

“What’s – what’s going on?” He managed, voice hoarse. How long had he been in there?

“You were injured.” Nala Se said simply. “You were brought to Kamino for a training exercise to help educate some of the younger soldiers on proper protocols, and there was an explosion. You were severely burned.”

_“Things are bad. Very bad.”_

“I don’t… I don’t remember any of that.” Rex mumbled, looking down at his skin. It looked like he would have some scarring, despite the bacta. His hands still looked pink and raw, and it hurt when he curled them into fists.

“Yes, you will have some memory loss. You were struck on the head during the explosion. Not to mention the severe physical trauma.” Nala replied in that same eerily calm voice.

_“We were tricked.”_

“You will likely have some permanent memory loss, and there will be some scarring on your hands, regrettably.” Nala said. “However, the Jedi have decided not to decommission you, against my professional recommendation.”

Rex looked up at her for a beat, but Nala had already turned away.

“See to it that he is cleaned and dressed. The Jedi will be arriving soon to retrieve him and the rest of his men.”

“Wait.” Rex said, rising to his feet shakily. “Who – the rest of my men? Was anyone else hurt?”

_“We were all part of this – this experiment.”_

“A trooper was killed.” Nala said, her voice still emotionless and cold. “ARC Trooper 5555. He was closest to the blast when it happened. The rest of your men are largely unhurt, though they suffered from memory loss as well.” She looked at him over her shoulder, black eyes boring into him. “Did you know him?”

_“You were hurt and I – I tried to save you, Rex.”_

Rex couldn’t hear anything beyond that. He felt like his ears had been stuffed with cotton. His knees buckled slightly, and the medic at his arm was the only thing that kept him falling to the floor. Fives. Fives was dead. Fives was killed. He was dead.

He swallowed, clenching his jaw, leveling his breathing as best he could. “Yeah.” He said quietly. “Yeah, I knew him.”

_“I tried. But you saved me instead.”_

“Shame.” Nala said, facing forward again. “He was expensive. What a waste of product.”

Rex felt his stomach knot, and a white-hot heat course up his back and behind his eyes. He couldn’t tell if it was rage, or grief, or some wretched combination of the two. Fives was dead. Rex couldn’t remember a damn thing. Did he see it happen? Did he try to save Fives? Did Fives suffer at all? Was it a blessing to not remember, or a curse?

_“Karkin’ di’kut.”_

He choked back half a sob once Nala had left the room, unable to hold it back any longer.

“Deep breaths, sir.” The medic said softly. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up, yeah? You’ll feel better once you’ve got your _armor_ on.”

Something about the way the medic emphasized armor made something flicker in the back of Rex’s mind, but he couldn’t process it at the moment. Fives was dead. His ARC Trooper, his _cyare,_ his Fives, was _dead_.

_“I have to go away for a while.”_

Rex barely registered the medic being joined by a second, and the two of them working together to wash Rex clean of the bacta before helping him into his blacks. Something itched at the back of Rex’s brain, something dark and intrusive.

The memory of a flower.

_“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to come back.”_

“Is there a body?” Rex asked softly. The medics hesitated a moment.

“No.” Said the first.

“His armor? Anything at all left behind?”

“Nothing sir.” The first continued.

“It was quick,” said the second, quieter, like an apology. “Didn’t feel a thing.”

He didn’t feel the tear on his cheek until the first medic stood quickly, wiping it away and blocking the camera in the upper left corner of the room from spotting it.

_“But as soon as I can, I’ll try to contact you again.”_

“The others?” Rex asked, clearing his throat and leveling his voice once more.

“More men from the 501st. You, Jesse, Kix, Tup, and -.” The medic cleared his throat. “And Fives. Commander Cody, Commander Wolffe, and Commander Bly were also present for the – the accident.”

Rex frowned. “For a training exercise?” He asked. “That doesn’t – that doesn’t make sense.”

“They wanted different commanders to demonstrate different styles of leadership.” The second medic piped up quickly. “The four men you brought with you from the 501st were there to demonstrate group tactics.”

_“I’ll find a way to tell you where I am.”_

Something about that explanation still didn’t sit right with Rex, but he let it drop for now. “Are they alright?” He asked instead.

“They’re all fine, sir. Aside from some memory loss.”

“I don’t understand. How’d we all lose our memory?”

“It was a big explosion, sir.”

“Where?”

“Sir,” The first medic said quietly, his voice soft, pleading. “Sir, please. Don’t ask the wrong questions.”

Rex’s eyes narrowed, and the medic’s eyes drifted slightly to the left, and Rex caught sight of the camera in the corner of the room. His mouth tightened into a thin line.

“What’s your name?” He asked softly.

The medic hesitated, swallowing roughly, and turned away, ashamed. “Clover.” He said quietly. “My name is Clover.”

The second medic looked sympathetic, and Rex’s confusion only grew.

“Clover.” He repeated. The name was familiar.

_“When you reach me, I’ll explain everything.”_

“I’m Graft.” Said the second medic. “A transport will be arriving soon to take you and the rest of your boys back home. You better get dressed.” He stood, nodding to Clover and headed for the door.

“Here, Captain.” Clover said, handing Rex his armor as he got dressed. Rex carefully affixed each piece of his armor into place, noting the fresh paintjob on the plates. He could remember painting it with Fives. How long ago was that?

“Sir.” Clover prompted, offering him his wrist com. Rex noticed the little glowing white light, indicating he had a message. He met Clover’s eyes, and once again the medic’s eyes flicked towards the camera, and Rex gave the slightest nod.

“Thank you, Clover. You as well, Graft.”

The medic nodded once again.

“Someone will be in to collect you once your transport arrives.” Graft said from the door.

“Good luck, Captain.” Clover said softly.

_“Everything will be alright, Rex. I promise.”_

The medics left the room, and Rex bent over, picking up his helmet. He hesitated a moment, and slowly slid it on. He silenced all the other com channels, double checking, and then triple checking, that the audio of his commlink was confined solely to his helmet.

_“I love you.”_

He pressed the button on his wrist com, and Fives’ voice filled his helmet.


	2. The Leviathan Crew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah, I know I said I'd start uploading on the fifteenth, but what can I say? I got really excited. 
> 
> THANK YOU for all your comments and kudos on chapter one!! It's part of what made me so excited to post chapter two. I love hearing from you guys and I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate all your support so far.

_THREE MONTHS LATER…_

He kept to the shadows, hands in the pockets of his jacket, watching out of the corner of his eye as the pair of Trandoshan junkers lingered outside the bar, flirting with a fresh-faced young Twi-lek. His hair had gotten longer, and hung over slightly into his eyes. He resisted the urge to push it back, knowing it covered his tattoo and spared him from identification. The Twi-lek girl looked uncomfortable, and the hairs on the back of the ARC Trooper’s neck stood up as one of the Trandoshans tried to grab her arm.

 _Former_ ARC Trooper, he reminded himself bitterly.

He scratched a hand through his beard, subtly pulling his communicator up to his lips.

“Nan, might want to hurry it up in there.” Fives murmured, keeping his eyes on the targets.

 _“Quit rushing me! I’m going as fast as I can.”_ Said the young, female voice. A soft grunt rattled on the other end of the call. _“Jeez, they’ve gotta have somethin’ good in here with a safe like this one.”_

 _“Cut the chatter and focus, Nan.”_ Came another female voice. Deeper, with a harsh edge, but Fives’ lips quirked up when he heard it. _“Anybody got eyes on Fiske?”_

“Isn’t the point for us not to see him?” Fives said, smirking into the communicator.

_“We’ll see how smart your mouth is once I kick those pretty teeth in, Fives.”_

Fives grinned to himself, but it fell like a drop of rain when he saw one of the Trandoshans grab the Twi-lek woman forcefully by the arm, holding her still while the other one grabbed her around the waist.

“Hey, you seeing this?”

_“Not our problem. Nanook, are you close?”_

_“Almost ready.”_

“They’re gonna hurt her, Tal.” Fives muttered.

_“Not. Our. Problem.”_

_“Kid, don’t get any bright ideas, remember what happened last time?”_ A male voice chimed in. _“Fiske, you better take him out if he does anything stupid.”_

_“You don’t give orders, Rhokan, I do. Fives, I mean it, stay put.”_

Fives did precisely the opposite. He pulled the vibro-blade from his boot and flicked it open, scooting towards the edge of the shadows. “I’m gonna make a move.”

_“Don’t you dare -.”_

Fives had only taken a step towards the Trandoshans when they both suddenly crumbled, two red darts sticking out of the back of their necks. The Twi-lek woman screamed, and darted back into the bar. Fives cursed under his breath, and glanced up to the rooftop of one of the adjacent buildings. He caught the faintest glimpse of a black cloak before it disappeared again.

_“Unbelievable.”_

_“Oh, blast it all!”_

_“Well lads, we can pack it up. The newbie’s blown yet another job with his kriffin’ hero mentality.”_

_“Shove it Rhokan, back to the ship, now!”_

_“Wait.”_ Nanook’s voice halted everything. _“Wait. I’ve got it! I’ve cracked it. Oh. Oh nine hells, Tallulah, you’ve gotta see this!”_

“Grab what you can and get back to the ship, we’ve got to move.”

Fives jumped at the sound of Tallulah Chia’s voice directly behind him instead of on the communicator, and was smacked upside the head before he’d had a chance to turn around.

“Ow! What the kriff was that for?!”

“How many times do I have to tell you, don’t interfere with the target unless I say so!” The Zabrak woman snapped, already drawing her blaster. “Get moving, nerf-herder.”

“They were going to hurt her, she was scared.” Fives growled, but flicked his vibro-blade closed again and favored his blaster, running after the bounty hunter.

“So?! That isn’t our problem! If anything the distraction would’ve bought Nanook more time!” Tallulah shouted back, just as a few more Twi-leks – this time men with guns – ran out of the bar followed closely by a few Weequay and a Rhodian.

“Nanook didn’t need more time, she got the safe cracked just fine!”

“Stop –.” She shot at their pursuers over her shoulder. “Arguing –.” She yanked Fives into an alley, narrowly avoiding getting shot. “With me.”

Fives glared at her, and glanced over his shoulder, quickly angling himself so he had Tallulah hidden in front of him as the assailants passed the alleyway. As soon as it was clear, Tallulah shoved him back.

“Nanook, where are you?” She asked into her communicator.

_“Back on the ship. Fiske and Rho are with me. Can you get back?”_

“Yeah, we’ll just have to find another way around. I’ve got the karkhead with me.” Tallulah said. Fives scowled behind her. He turned, looking down the alley.

“Ah, kriff. They’re doubling back this way.” Tallulah hissed. “Nan, if they get too close to the ship, get going. Fives and I will catch up with you.”

“Hey,” Fives called, motioning Tallulah over. “There’s an access point here that leads up to the roof. Nanook can grab us from there.”

Tallulah raised an eyebrow. “Nan, did you get that?”

_“Roger that! I’m tracing your com now, we’ll meet you there.”_

“Not bad.” Tallulah punched Fives in the arm as she jogged past him towards the ladder. “C’mon, they’re coming back.”

Fives followed her quickly, and managed to get to the top just as the men from the bar rounded the corner into the alley.

“They’re heading for the roof!” The Rhodian shouted.

“Nan?” Fives asked, glancing back down as the men shot up at him, one of the Weequay beginning to climb the ladder.

“There she is!” Tallulah pointed at the sky as the small ship stalled above the roof, the landing platform declining. A large Zygerrian man leaned halfway out, extending his hand to Tallulah first, helping her onto the platform. She turned over her shoulder as she made her way onto the platform.

“Fives, watch out!”

Fives ducked as a blaster bolt whizzed over his head and struck the landing platform. He grit his teeth and turned, firing back at the Weequay, who was now joined by a Twi-Lek and the Rhodian.

“Run and jump, kid, let’s go!” The Zygerrian shouted from the platform, urging him forward. “Come on!”

Fives sprinted towards the landing platform as the ship started to lift away, and with a grunt of effort leapt up towards the platform, catching himself on the edge. The man hauled him into the ship, and the platform closed behind them.

“By the gods, kid, you got some Terrellian Jango Jumper in ya or something?” He asked, slapping Fives roughly on the back. “Big jump for a little man.”

“Fuck you.” Fives grunted, shoving the Zygerrian away. Rhokan Do just smirked, watching Fives haul himself to his feet as the ship left the planet’s atmosphere, headed for hyperspace.

“I say we keep his cut.” Rhokan announced to the rest of the ship as they gathered in the cockpit. “It’s only fair, since he’s blown our jobs the past three times.”

“He didn’t blow it.” Nanook Lockwood swiveled around in the pilot’s chair, revealing a very short Nautolan girl. “I still got the safe open without a hitch. Besides, he’s not used to this, give him a break.”

Tallulah hummed softly, looking back at Fives. “He can still have his cut. He got us out of there when it counted. Besides,” She smirked at Fives. “It ain’t a bad thing to want to look after people. We’ll need that next time we’re in a bind and he’s the one driving.”

“Please.” Rhokan drawled. “Nan wouldn’t let him anywhere near her precious ship.”

“Damn right I wouldn’t. Sorry Fives.” Nanook shrugged, turning back around. “So, where we heading next?”

“Back to Coruscant. I’m sure we can pick up some actual bounty hunting jobs there for a change, instead of B&E’s.” Tallulah said. “Speaking of which, where’s the take, Nan?”

“Oh yeah!” Nanook said excitedly, programming the hyperspace coordinates in. “Hang on, lemme get this ready and I’ll grab it.”

As Nanook and Tallulah talked, Fives frowned to himself. Back to Coruscant. It was a lot harder to stay inconspicuous in a place that was crawling with clones. He wasn’t going to be able to stay under the radar there, especially if the rest of the crew wanted him to go with them to find jobs – which they typically did.

He looked around at his fellow crew mates. Tallulah had been the one who found him, half-alive in some dive bar in a random Outer Rim planet. It was as far as the ship he'd stolen from Kamino managed to get him before he inevitably had to stop for fuel, only to realize he had no money to his name. He'd been living out of the ship and off what he was able to steal - that is, until he'd tried to pickpocket Tallulah Chia and almost lost a finger. Whatever gods were watching over Fives, evidently, took pity on him, because Tallulah didn't kill him. Instead, she bought him a meal and a drink, and offered him a ride. That had been weeks ago now. 

Fives looked at himself in the reflection of the cockpit window. His cheeks were still a little sunken, and he was in desperate need of a haircut - or, soon, one of Tup's hair ties if he wasn't careful - but some of his muscle mass had returned, and he almost felt like an ARC trooper again. Or at least, the way he was before he'd been promoted. 

He chased those thoughts out of his head. He wasn't an ARC Trooper anymore. There was no point in wasting time thinking about the past. What mattered now was he had found a place, however temporary it may be, among the crew of the _Leviathan._ And he owed them his life.

“Troubled?”

Fives had gotten used to Fiske Errvodu creeping up on him out of nowhere, but the sound of his eerily calm voice still put him on edge.

“You could say that.” He muttered. “Hey, thanks by the way. For ah – for taking out the Trandoshans.”

“Yes. It was either that or watch you attempt to take them on with nothing but your little knife.” The Chiss said, smoothing back his dark hair. It fell like a curtain down his back, and his deep red eyes seemed to stare straight through Fives. “I thought I would do us all the favor and save us from having to patch you up afterwards.”

“Sure.” Fives muttered.

“C’mere boys, let’s see how we fared.” Tallulah called, heading out of the cockpit.

Fives waited for Fiske to rise first, the regal man smoothing out his black cloak before ghosting down the hallway after Tallulah. Fives paused, glancing towards the empty cockpit, watching the autopilot light blink before sighing and following the others down below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tallulah Chia, Nanook Lockwood, Rhokan Do, and Fiske Errvodu are all my own OCs! Feel free to shoot me asks on Tumblr if you want to know more about them, but their stories will be revealed here in time. (Also, Fiske has a much longer name, but he goes by the core name Fiske for simplicity's sake).


	3. Reflections of a Jedi and His Commander

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you for the continued love and support! Your comments and kudos are fueling this story.

_Wolffe kept his eyes on his hands, folded neatly on the cool durasteel table in front of him. He could hear Bly tapping his foot nervously to his left, but he didn’t acknowledge the sound no matter how much it grated on his nerves. He focused on his hands, and on his breathing, making sure it was slow and even and not at all in time with his heartbeat, which was beating so fast Wolffe was half afraid it would bound right out of his chest._

_No, he couldn’t let the longnecks know he was afraid._

_When he’d woken up, he had been in a hospital bed on Kamino. He didn’t remember how he got there, other than the Kaminoans told him he’d been involved in some kind of training accident. He was lucky he wasn’t hurt, they’d said. He was lucky that he wasn’t like the other ones, they’d said. The one who’d burned. The one who’d died._

_Wolffe could remember Fives. They hadn’t crossed paths more than once or twice – and even then, those interactions had been brief – but after Umbara, a man like Fives had a reputation that reached the entire GAR. Even Wolffe couldn’t deny that._

_So why didn’t he remember the massive explosion that supposedly killed Fives and gravely wounded Rex?_

_“Where do you s’pose they took the others?” Bly asked, his voice so sudden in the silent room that Wolffe jumped a bit._

_“Not sure.” Wolffe said quietly._

_“They separated Commander Cody.”_

_“I saw.”_

_“They were taking him towards the reconditioning rooms.”_

_“We don’t know that’s where they were going.”_

_Bly swallowed roughly, going back to tapping his foot. Wolffe opened his mouth to snap at him when the door opened abruptly._

_“Master Jedi, I really must insist -!”_

_Plo Koon entered the room, robes billowing out behind him. Behind his mask, his expression was entirely unreadable, but Wolffe could read his body language, and his blood went cold. General Plo was furious._

_“I can handle it from here, thank you.” Plo said curtly to the Kaminoan who’d tried to stop him._

_“But – Master Jedi, Nala Se specifically said -.”_

_“She can take it up with me herself. I’m bringing these men back with me.” There was a certain thunder behind Plo’s words that made Wolffe immediately rise to his feet, and Bly follow suit. The Kaminoan reluctantly stepped aside, and Plo nodded to Wolffe and Bly._

_“Gentlemen, with me.” He said. They followed him quickly, the Jedi Master moving with purpose down the hallways._

_“Where are the others?” He asked._

_“We aren’t sure sir, we were just told it was a training accident.” Wolffe answered, a note of anxiety bleeding into his voice. “Something’s going on sir.”_

_“I know. We will do our best to explain things on the way.” Plo said._

_“Where? On the way where?” Bly asked, then tacked on a “sir” at the end._

_“We should prioritize finding the rest of your fellow soldiers for now.” Plo paused in the hallway for a beat, looking down a left and right hallway before deciding to turn left._

_“Sir?” Bly asked anxiously, unable to help himself._

_Plo rounded the corner, and used the Force to open a locked door on the left. Kix and Jesse immediately leapt apart from where they had clearly been trying to comfort one another, and Tup looked up from where he was sitting off to the side._

_“General Plo?” Jesse asked, surprised. “What’re you -.”_

_“Come, it’s time for you to go home.” Plo said, extending a hand to them. “Are any of you injured?” he asked, glancing at Tup, who was trembling slightly._

_“Just some memory loss sir. We were in some kind of accident.” Kix said. “But – But I checked Jesse and Tup, there’s no marks or anything. No bumps on the head, no injuries that I can see.”_

_“Do you know where the others are being held?”_

_“No sir. They took Commander Cody somewhere separate. And Captain Rex.” Kix continued._

_“They said Fives was dead.” Tup spoke up quietly. “Is it true?”_

_“I am not certain.” Plo said. “If he’s alive, we’ll find him. With me, gentlemen.” He urged, and turned to Wolffe. “Commander, there’s a platform to the east. General Secura is waiting there. See to it that you all make it there safely.”_

_“Yes sir.” Wolffe replied, instinct taking over as he turned to the rest of the clones. “Come on men, let’s move!”_

~

“Wolffe.”

The Commander opened his eyes, lifting his head slightly in acknowledgement at the Jedi.

“Sir.”

“I apologize for the intrusion, but I could sense your distress from the Temple.” Plo Koon said, lingering in the entrance to Wolffe’s quarters. “May I enter?”

“Knock yourself out.” Wolffe replied, stepping up from where he’d been seated at his meager table. “Sense my distress, huh?”

“The Force was bleeding with it, yes.”

“Kriff, sorry sir. Didn’t mean to be a distraction.”

“You were nothing of the sort.” Plo replied calmly. “Nevertheless, I wanted to check on you. Something is troubling you?”

Wolffe chuckled humorlessly. “S’pose you could say that, sir. I just keep thinking about – well, you know.”

Plo’s expression was unreadable, but he closed the door behind him as he finally entered.

“If… if there were something I could do, to ease your disquiet…”

“Sir, respectfully, you don’t have to worry about me.” Wolffe said, suddenly feeling self-conscious as he realized he was still in his sleepwear – just his lower blacks. “We were trained to deal with this kind of – of stress.”

Plo was quiet for a beat, and settled into the chair on the opposite side of Wolffe’s table. “Even so. This was… inhumane. Cruel. You were taken against your will, and the Jedi were unable to protect you from it.”

Another pause.

“ _I_ was unable to protect you from it, Wolffe.”

Wolffe blinked. General Plo had been worried about him, and moreover, General Plo was upset because he felt like he’d _let Wolffe down._

“Sir,” Wolffe began carefully, stepping up to his General. He felt odd, standing over the seated Jedi, so he knelt to the floor, hesitantly putting one hand on Plo’s thigh and using the other to touch his arm. “I don’t blame you. Really. You didn’t know what had happened.”

Plo looked up at him once more, lifting a hand and very gingerly tracing a talon over Wolffe’s scar. “It would not be the first time I failed to protect you, Wolffe.”

“Bantha shit, sir.” Wolffe griped, tilting away from Plo’s hand and taking it in his own instead, squeezing gently. “With all due respect, this isn’t about you. You didn’t let me down. You didn’t _fail_ anything, I -.”

_“I have to get back, I have to protect Plo!”_

Wolffe winced, touching the side of his temple.

“Commander?”

“It’s nothing.” Wolffe insisted, trying to quell Plo’s worries. “Just a headache. Been getting them a lot more nowadays. Guess it’s a side effect of memory loss.”

_“Bad things are coming, and I’m not going to let you,” He swung the blade, Tup narrowly managing to duck around it. “Or Rex,” Another heavy swing. “Or this fekkin’ maniac,” Another, this time blocked with Tup’s own blade, but the force of it knocked him off-balance. “Or anyone else stop me from getting back to my Jedi!”_

“Wolffe!”

Plo dropped to the floor beside Wolffe, catching him before his head hit the ground.

“’m dizzy.” Wolffe managed, rubbing at his cybernetic eye with the heel of his hand.

“Here, take a deep breath. May I?” Plo asked, already moving his hand to lightly cover Wolffe’s temple. In almost an instant, the sharp pain in Wolffe’s head subsided, and was replaced with a soothing warmth, the disquiet in his mind fading into an easy clarity.

“Thank you, sir.” Wolffe murmured, leaning into Plo’s hand slightly.

“If you’d like, I can teach you to meditate. It may help with your headaches in the future.” Plo said back, his fingers ghosting lightly through Wolffe’s hair. The commander hummed.

“Not sure I’ve got the patience for that, sir.”

“You have endless patience, Wolffe. I’ve seen it myself.” Plo replied, and Wolffe could hear the smile in his voice.

They were both quiet for a moment, Wolffe’s head in Plo’s lap, until the soldier spoke again.

“Did you ever find anything out? About what happened to us?”

Plo was quiet above him, long enough for Wolffe to crack an eye open to look at him. “Sir?”

“No.” Plo answered finally. “Nothing we didn’t already know. The Jedi Council is… somewhat divided on this issue.”

“Divided?” Wolffe sat up. “What is there to be divided on?”

Plo was quiet again, and folded his legs neatly under him, so the two men could sit cross legged and across from one another.

“The Kaminoans told you it was a training exercise. A trooper was killed in the process, and the rest of you were injured with amnesia.” He said. Wolffe nodded along. He knew all of this.

“And you also know that the reason we came looking for you is because there _was_ no training exercise, but rather, you had been abducted and brought to Kamino against your will.” Plo continued.

Wolffe remembered that as well. Or rather, he remembered Plo explaining it to him after the fact. He still had no clue how he’d wound up on Kamino, but Plo had told him what initially tipped them off that something was wrong was they’d seen security footage of Commander Bly unconscious in a briefing room before he was abducted, and there was similar footage of Rex, Tup, Fives, and Cody all being abducted straight from the halls of a heavily fortified Republic base.

Needless to say, once the Jedi had realized several of their troopers were missing, four of them ranking officers and one an ARC Trooper, they scrambled to find them. For that, Wolffe was grateful, even if it was less about saving the clones and more about resolving a potential security breach.

“Right.” He said, motioning for Plo to continue. “And you never figured out who took us?”

“We did. An elite squadron of clones known as Clone Force 99. They call themselves the Bad Batch.” Plo replied. “They were ordered directly by the Chancellor to take eight troopers to Kamino for processing. It wasn’t randomized. You, and the others, were specifically targeted.”

Wolffe’s frown deepened. He’d heard of Clone Force 99, though never met them in person. “What did they have to say about it?”

“They’re deeply embedded in a top-secret reconnaissance mission on Oba Diah.” Plo said quietly. “We haven’t been able to make contact with them. Yet.”

“Okay… so why target clones then? What did the Chancellor want with us?”

“He told us that Halle Burtoni, Kamino’s Senate representative, contacted him directly to tell him Jango Fett’s DNA was running low, and if there was not a suitable replacement found soon, the clone army would be halted.” Plo said. He rested his hands on his knees, and Wolffe noticed them clench slightly.

“He claimed he very carefully reviewed some of the top performing soldiers under the Jedi, and settled on the eight of you as potential donors. He brought you to Kamino so the Kaminoans could run exams on each of you, and watch how you trained and led the younger troopers.”

Truthfully, it made sense to Wolffe. They were able to pull DNA from Jango Fett, then it made sense that the Chancellor would want other strong clones to serve as the DNA replacement. Hells, he was almost certain Cody was trained by Fett himself.

“Seems like he could’ve just asked for that sir.” Wolffe replied, stretching slightly. “If he needed our DNA, I mean. And if he wanted to test us with some kind of… of training simulation, like they did when we were cadets, then I could understand that too. So why all the secrecy?”

Plo hummed. “There’s a darkness in the Force. I cannot escape the feeling that there is something more happening here, something we don’t quite understand yet.” He looked up at Wolffe, holding the other man’s gaze. “Something more happened to you on Kamino. Something you can’t remember, and something the Chancellor and the Kaminoans went to great lengths to conceal.”

“Sir, we’re fine. We’re all fine.” Wolffe assured him. “They didn’t do anything to us, otherwise we’d be -.”

He paused. “So, what happened to Fives then? They told us he was dead, but you’re telling me that there was no training accident at all, and something else was happening to us.”

“We are… uncertain.” Plo replied. “The ARC Trooper Fives was nowhere to be found. I could not sense him anywhere, and neither could the other Jedi. It is as though he vanished.”

He looked to Wolffe again. "You are certain there is nothing you remember about what happened to you on Kamino?" 

_"I have to get back. They'll kill General Plo if I don't stop them."_

_"Wolffe!! WOLFFE!"_

_"I'm so sorry, brother."_

"No." Wolffe said quietly, keeping his expression neutral. "No. I don't remember anything." 

Plo didn't seem to believe him, but he let it go. "There's something else I must tell you, something I haven't told the other Jedi." 

Wolffe tilted his head slightly. "What is it, sir?" 

“I could sense the presence of… something else. Another being with knowledge of the Force. The Force was _alive_ on Kamino that day, Wolffe. Something awoke. Whether it was Sith or Jedi, I do not know.”

The weight of that statement settled in the room between the two men for a long time.

“Do you think whatever it was killed Fives?”

“That’s what I'm afraid of, Wolffe.” Plo murmured. “And if they did kill Fives, why did they kill him?”

He turned, looking out towards the Jedi Temple, towards the Senate building.

“What did he know that they were trying to hide?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The timeline is a little wonky as I fill in the gaps of what's happened to our boys while jumping back and forth between the clones and then back to Fives and the Leviathan Crew. If something is confusing, just let me know so I can correct it! (I don't have a beta reader, so even though I've read through this multiple times to double check I may still have some unclear sections). 
> 
> On that same note: If you want to be a beta-reader, message me on Tumblr!


	4. The Man in the Mirror

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna keep thanking you all each and every chapter, so just be prepared for that. 
> 
> I love you guys, thanks for your continued love and support. <3

“These guys were definitely packing heat.” Nanook babbled, pulling out her little rucksack. “I piled in as much as I could fit – there were tons of credits and spices and all kinds of weird tech I’d never seen before but then I saw this thing and you’re not going to believe it Tal it’s incredible I’ve never seen one up close -.”

“Take a breath, Nan.” Rhokan chuckled. “What’ve you got?”

They were all gathered in the living quarters of the ship, Nanook, Tallulah and Rhokan gathered around the durasteel table, while Fiske lingered behind them. Fives leaned against the wall, watching the proceedings.

Nanook grinned. “This. This, is what I’ve got.”

The ship fell quiet as Nanook opened her bag, letting the contents spill out on the table.

“Is that…?”

“It’s a lightsaber.” Fives finished for Tallulah, perking up with interest. He came over to the table, reaching for the blade. “How did they -.”

“How do you turn it on?” Rhokan interrupted, snatching it up and inspecting it closely.

“Hey, I found it!” Nanook protested, reaching for it, only to have Rhokan put a massive paw on her head and hold her at bay while he looked it over.

“Thing’s busted, it won’t turn on.” Rhokan reported.

“Probably needs a kyber crystal.” Fives said. “Let me see it.”

“Like hell. You caused enough trouble today, no way you get the best part of the take.”

“If it’s busted anyway then what does it matter?” Tallulah asked. “Let him see, Rho. Clearly he knows a thing or two about Jedi weapons.”

All eyes fell on Fives, and he frowned.

“I just hear things in passing.” He muttered. “Just – hand it over already.”

Reluctantly, Rhokan passed the blade over to Fives. He gripped it easily, the weight feeling natural and balanced in his palm. He remembered the way Tup had held the lightsaber in the Labyrinth. Little gods, that felt like so long ago.

“Hey.”

He jolted, Tallulah snapping her fingers in his face. “You with us in there?” She rapped her knuckles against his temple.

“Hands off.” Fives said, pushing her fist away. “’M fine, just thinking about it.”

“Well? Do you know how to fix it?” Rhokan asked.

“Like I said,” Fives replied hotly, tossing the blade back down onto the table. “The blasted thing needs a kyber crystal to work, this is just the hilt. The blade itself comes from the kyber crystals, and only Jedi can get into the crystal caves where they’re found.”

“You sure know a lot about the Jedi for a scavenger.” Rhokan mused, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at Fives. “Something you aren’t telling us, Fives? What kind of name is that, anyway?”

Fives’ jaw set, and he crossed his arms. “Everyone knows that. Haven’t you seen their weapons floating around the black market? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out how they work.” He smirked. “Though it might be a bit difficult for you.”

“Alright, punk -.”

“Enough.” Tallulah stepped between them. “Fine, so the lightsaber’s busted. It’s nothing more than a piece of junk without the crystal, yeah?” She asked, glancing between the men. “Then Nan can keep it. As a decoration for her ship or whatever.”

“Awesome.” Nanook grinned, snatching up the hilt and holding it reverentially.

“So how many credits does that leave for the rest of us?” Rhokan asked impatiently.

“Five hundred and fifty-five apiece.” Fiske said, rubbing one of the gold credits between his fingers. “Plus an extra left over.”

“Lucky number five, huh?” Rhokan hummed, glaring at Fives as he picked up his take. “Five hundred and fifty-five credits. Should be plenty for you to buy yourself a little room on Coruscant, and you can finally get out of our hair.”

“Yeah, I just might.” Fives replied, taking his own credits and counting them out quickly. It was more money than he’d ever seen in his life. He caught Fiske watching him, and he quickly pocketed his take.

“Right, now that’s settled, I think I’ll be heading to bed soon.” Tallulah announced. “Who’s taking the first shift in the cockpit?”

Fiske rose without a word, nodding once to Tallulah before heading back to the cockpit.

“Guess that answers that.” Rhokan chuckled. “Y’know what, kid, I’ll let you have the refresher first. As a gesture of goodwill.” He said to Fives. “You smell.”

“Stinks like wet dog in here if you ask me.” Fives shot back.

“Enough, already.” Tallulah sighed. “Go, both of you. Nan, you as well. We need to rest before we hit Coruscant.”

“Why go to Coruscant? Why not find one of these kyber caves and get the lightsaber up and running?” Rhokan asked. “You know how valuable a functioning lightsaber is? I’ll bet you anything that’s where those Trandoshans were heading with it.”

“What part of ‘Only Jedi can get in the kyber caves’ did you not understand?” Tallulah asked. “We’re going to Coruscant. Let it go, man. It’s just a stupid sword, anyway. It doesn’t mean anything without that Jedi magic.”

“Speak for yourself.” Rhokan muttered, eyeing the blade in Nanook’s hand. “Hey, you going to shower or what?” He called to Fives.

“I’m going, I’m going.” Fives held up his hands, then gave a little mock salute before turning away.

~

Fives stood in the refresher for a long time, letting the hot water wash over his skin. The clones were only allotted a limited amount of time to shower, and if you exceeded it, the water would shut off. Fives marveled at the concept of long, hot showers now, and hummed softly as he tilted his head directly into the stream, washing out his hair.

The Leviathan Crew had been kind to Fives – kinder than they needed to be. He’d tried to rob Tallulah, and she’d offered him a place among them for as long as he’d wanted, and even gave him a room of his own. It wasn’t much bigger than an Officer’s quarters back in the GAR, but it was _his._ He’d used most of his money from their first take together – he’d only gotten a fraction of what a crew member would typically get, until they trusted him – to buy himself some new clothes. It felt odd for Fives to be out of armor, but damn if he didn’t love the old-age starfighter jacket he’d found at a market stall on Tatooine. Tallulah thought it was ugly. Nanook had loved it, and insisted on buying him a little starfighter pin, which Fives wore proudly on the front pocket.

As he stepped out of the shower and toweled his hair dry, he briefly considered cutting his hair. It was well past his ears now, just barely above his shoulders. As he dried it, it started to curl, and he pushed it back out of his eyes with some finality, grabbing the bandanna he’d worn around his neck earlier and used it now to pull his hair out of his face. At least his beard he’d managed to keep relatively trimmed since he’d joined the Leviathan Crew. Not so long that it was annoying, but long enough that it kept his identity a secret.

Well, as secret as a man with the same face as an entire army could be.

He sighed to himself. He avoided looking in the mirror, hated the face, the eyes, staring back at him.

Rex’s comm channel was on a secure Republic server. Fives wouldn’t be able to contact it directly unless he got his hands on a Republic-issued communicator. And even then, there was no guarantee he would be able to communicate over a Captain’s channel. Not to mention the risk of it being traced, and the danger he’d be putting Rex in just to contact him.

He risked a glance up at the mirror, forced himself to look into his own eyes. Blinked.

He wondered where Rex was right then. Was he deployed somewhere? Was he still in Kamino, rotting away in a bacta tank? Was he with the rest of his men? _Is he safe? Is he alright?_

“Kriff it all.” Fives muttered, turning away from the mirror again and shaking his hair back, tucking the bandanna in on itself so it looked more like a headband, and wrapped the towel around his hips once more as he stepped out of the refresher.

“What the -!”

Tallulah was sitting on his bed, flicking Fives’ vibro blade between her fingers.

“Tal, what the kriff are you doing here?!” He hissed, one hand over his chest and the other holding his towel firmly in place.

“Hello Fives.” Tallulah greeted lazily, picking at her nails with the blade for a moment before snapping it open at with a hard look.

“So, how long have you been on the run from the Republic?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A recurring theme in this series has been lightsabers mysteriously showing up and ending up in the hands of clones. Go figure. 
> 
> That being said, we were robbed of Rex getting to wield a lightsaber in S7 of clone wars. That is all.


	5. Kneel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically you guys got two chapters today, because I posted the last one at like 1 am. Have another!

Commander Cody kept his expression level, hands folded in his lap, head inclined just slightly up at the Jedi in front of him. He was on his knees before them.

“With all due respect, it’s been three months.” He said quietly. “Is this still necessary?”

“We just want to try one more time, Commander.” Mace Windu said, keeping his arms crossed in front of him. “One way or another, we _will_ find out what happened to you and your men.”

“If we can probe your memories, maybe we can see whatever it was the Kaminoans were trying to repress.” Luminara Unduli continued. “We know it’s unpleasant, but please understand, we’re trying to help you Commander.”

Obi-Wan was silent, his arms folded over his chest. Cody knew better than to look to him for help. He didn’t look at him at all. The Commander only nodded in resignation. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice anyway.

“Okay.” He murmured. “I’m ready, sirs.”

Luminara began, lifting her hand. Cody could feel her, feel the Force, like her fingers were delicately picking apart his brain.

_“I don’t understand, what’s – why are you doing this? What’s happening?”_

_Cody was trying – and failing – to keep the panic out of his voice as he was marched down the hall, two Kaminoans in front of him, and four – four – armed clone troopers behind him. Two more held his arms, forcing him forward and giving him no space to try and fight back. He didn’t have his armor, he’d only been allowed to dress in the bottom half of his blacks. He felt cold and exposed without his armor, even more so without even a shirt._

_The Kaminoans didn’t answer him, but they didn’t have to. Cody knew too well where they were headed. Every clone knew what was at the end of this hallway._

_“Why are you doing this?” He repeated. “Just – just tell me what I’ve done, I don’t understand!”_

_He tried to plant his feet in place for a moment, only for the clones at his side to lift him off the ground slightly in his forced march, making his bare feet skid across the floor._

_“Kriffin’ hell, stop!” Cody shouted, struggling against the clones holding him, trying to fight back. “I don’t want to be reconditioned! I haven’t done anything wrong!”_

_“No. You haven’t.” One of the Kaminoans leading the charge finally spoke up. “Unfortunately, our first choice has left us, and our second choice – well, with his scarring, the Jedi won’t want him much longer anyway. Which, regrettably, leaves you. Option number three.”_

_“Option? For what? What are you doing with me?” Cody demanded, trying once again to root himself in place._

“We’ve seen all this before. This is nothing new.” Luminara murmured, pulling back. Cody panted softly, jerked free of his memories. He chewed his lower lip for a bit, and shook himself loose. They never stopped after one attempt, and he prepared to brace himself for the second round.

“The Kaminoan said ‘left us’.” Obi-Wan mused. “Perhaps the ARC Trooper Fives was not killed, and rather escaped somehow?”

“Escaped from what?” Luminara asked. “And even if he did escape, he wouldn’t be able to get past an entire planet of clones without being spotted.”

“Maybe he could have.” Obi-Wan argued. “They all share the same face. It would have been easy for him to blend in, or steal armor. He could have escaped.”

“Maybe escape from Kamino, but to survive in the outside world with a clone’s face…” Luminara shook her head. “He wouldn’t last long on his own.”

“Commander?” Mace prompted.

“I’m ready.” Cody nodded again, and tilted his head up once more.

_“Don’t make this harder than it has to be.” The second Kaminoan said. “It’s a very honorable thing. Think of all the good you’ll be doing. For the Republic, and for your… people.” It took the Kaminoan some time to settle on the word, and even then, it sounded disdainful. “Besides, what if the Jedi found out about your little secret?”_

_Cody paused his struggling, looking up at them again. “My what?”_

**_No. Don’t let them see that._ **

Cody grit his teeth, forcing his memories down, fighting back against General Windu in his head.

“He’s pushing back.” Mace said, frustrated, and dropped his hand. “Soldier, why do you resist?”

“I didn’t – mean to.” Cody gritted out between pants.

“May I?” Obi-Wan asked gently, putting a hand on Cody’s shoulder. Cody steeled himself, and didn’t look up at Obi-Wan, just closed his eyes once again.

_The Kaminoan turned, halting the march as he inclined his head down towards Cody. “You. And General Kenobi.” He murmured, his voice icy smooth. “By reconditioning you now, you’re sparing him the choice of reconditioning you later on, when we deliver our report to the Chancellor.” Cody could’ve sworn the creature was smiling at him. “Surely you’ve considered the consequences, should your little secret affair be exposed.”_

_The Kaminoan turned away again. “Better to spare him now, don’t you think?”_

_“What – how do you -.” Cody felt numb, blood like ice in his veins. He’d broken a sweat, and tried once again to hold himself in place. “No – NO! No, you can’t do this!”_

_The door to the reconditioning chamber slid open with some finality, and Cody could see the cold metal table, the binders along the sides and bottom for his ankles and wrists, a large, domelike contraption near the top that would seal around his head._

_“Please,” Cody begged, his voice cracking slightly. Nine hells, he’d never been this scared before. He could see the machines, the frightening looking saw they’d use to cut into his head, the sharp edge of a blade where they’d cut his identifier chip out of his wrist. “Please, please don’t do this.”_

“This… is inhumane.” Obi-Wan told his fellow Jedi. “It’s causing him severe mental distress.”

“Manipulating the mind with the Force can lead to brain damage,” Mace agreed. “A necessary risk, to get to the bottom of this supposed conspiracy. Didn’t you agree with us earlier on this point, Master Kenobi?”

Now, Cody looked to Obi-Wan, and it was the Jedi’s turn to not meet his eyes.

“I believe what I said,” Obi-Wan continued carefully. “Was I would participate on the condition the troopers were willing, and it did not harm them. It doesn’t appear we’ve left my Commander much choice.”

“And what do you think of this, Cody?” Mace asked. “Do you feel as though we’re forcing you to do this?”

_The clones shifted him around, preparing to drag him over to the table, and Cody drove his leg around behind the knee of one of the clones, knocking his legs out from under him before flipping the second over his shoulder. He scrambled for the trooper’s gun, only for one of the four behind him to grab him suddenly as two others forced him to the ground, pinning his arms behind him. He felt his nose break, blood gushing from his face as he came in contact with the ground._

_“Commander, stop this.” One of the clones hissed, his voice thick and pained. “Please, we have to do this. Don’t make this more difficult.”_

_Cody was dazed slightly from the impact. Not much, but just long enough that the clones were able to lift him onto the operating table and strap his arms and legs down._

“I’ll do my duty as a soldier, sir.” Cody replied. “If this is what that means, then so be it.”

Obi-Wan’s frown deepened, but Cody had gone back to avoiding looking at him, instead choosing to focus on Mace.

“One last push, then? Perhaps all three of us together?” Mace said smoothly. “We’re nearly there, we’re on the cusp of unlocking something. I can sense it, just out of reach.”

_“No.” Cody repeated, his voice soft like a child’s, thick and nasal from his bloodied nose. “I don’t – I don’t want to forget. Please.” He whispered, a tear sneaking out of his eye, from reflex or from fear, he wasn’t sure. “I don’t want to die, please.”_

“Very well.” Obi-Wan murmured. “Let’s get on with it.”

“Luminara, begin.”

_“Put on the device.” One of the Kaminoans ordered, and the other one lowered the metal dome over Cody’s head, sealing him in. Immediately, it was hard to breathe. Worse so because of Cody’s panicked cadence._

_“Begin the operation.”_

_A red light flickered between Cody’s eyes. A laser taking aim. A humming sound drowned out the voices of the Kaminoans. He squeezed his eyes shut. “OBI-WAN!!”_

_Then, the world around him went dark and silent. Things shifted. He was himself, but bigger. Much bigger. He was looking down on two men. One of them was badly burned, the other was half-carrying, half-dragging the wounded. Cody knew them once. Knew their names. Recognized their faces. The blond hair. The tattoo. They were running from him. Down a long hallway. Towards a lift. Cody wanted to chase them. He wanted to kill them. A chain. A chain held him back. Break the chain. Kill them. Kill them. Kill them. Kill._

“Wait.” Luminara’s voice cut through the memory. “What was that?”

“Don’t stop, keep going.” Mace hissed. “We’re getting somewhere.”

Cody flinched. “S-stop.” He managed, voice barely above a whisper.

_He was on a ledge. Kix was across from him, and so was Commander Wolffe. They were calling out to him._

_Two men. Suspended in the air, chains around their neck. A communicator in front of him. Pick it up. Talk to him._

_Back in the reconditioning room. Then, everything stopped. The ringing in his ears silenced whatever was happening beyond the dome over his head, but the red light went off, and he felt the straps on his ankles and wrists come undone just before the contraption over his head was lifted away from him, and a familiar face loomed over him._

_“Phew.” Ahsoka Tano sighed in relief. “Glad to see you’re still in one piece, Codes.” She took his hand, pulling him up. “What happened to your face?”_

_“C-Commander Tano?”_

_Back in the hallway. The sound of bones breaking, the taste of blood in his mouth. The screaming._

_Then again, in the reconditioning room. “This is an infringement on the Republic’s contract!” One of the Kaminoans protested. “This clone is property of the Kaminoan government, we have been ordered by Lama Su to decommission this soldier in preparation for the new generation of clones.”_

_“Cancel that order, you aren’t doing anything to him.” Ahsoka replied hotly, igniting one of her lightsabers and pointing it towards the Kaminoans. “Cody, we’re leaving.”_

“The memories are mixing together, I can’t tell what’s what anymore.” Luminara protested.

“We’re getting closer, go back to that hallway, with the missing trooper. That’s the key.” Mace continued. Cody felt a pressure against his brain like he’d never felt before. He thought his head was going to explode.

“We’re hurting him.” Obi-Wan’s voice. The slightest release of pressure.

“We’re close.” Windu. Cody wanted to kill him. _Good soldiers follow orders._ His head hurt. _Stop._

_“Ahsoka,” Plo Koon’s warning voice echoed from behind them both, though he seemed just as angry as Ahsoka did. “Please escort Commander Cody back to the shuttle. His armor has already been collected by Captain Rex. I need to have a word with the Kaminoans regarding this… order of theirs.”_

_“Come on, Cody. We’ve been looking everywhere for you guys.” Ahsoka said, still holding Cody by the forearm and leading him down the hallway._

_“What’s going on? What do you mean?” Cody asked, still coming back down from the realization that he wasn’t going to be decommissioned._

_“You don’t know?” Ahsoka asked. “You’ve been missing in action for three days. Nobody knew where you were. Or Rex, or Commander Bly, or Wolffe or Kix or Tup -.” She gave him a funny look. “You don’t remember any of that? Master Kenobi’s been worried sick about you. So have your men.”_

_The hallway again. A glass door. The man with the tattoo on one side. The burned man on the other. Cody knew their names once. The tattooed man was screaming. Begging. Crying. The burned man had a hand against the glass. The man didn’t turn when Cody lunged at him, didn’t react to the sight of his own blood being spattered across the glass, making the tattooed man flinch backwards before disappearing out of sight, up the lift._

_Cody caught a glimpse of himself reflected in the glass, the burned man’s throat in his mouth, blood staining his skin, his hair, his teeth – his teeth, there were so many of them. Were those his eyes? Little gods, what had he become? What was he now? Obi-Wan, I’m afraid. What is this? Where am I? Where are you, Obi-Wan?_

“Stop.”

_I want to go home._

“I said stop!”

Obi-Wan’s sharp voice, followed by the pressure on his brain suddenly releasing was enough to bring Cody to his hands and knees, drawing a deep, heaving breath. His nose was bleeding. His ears were ringing. His vision blurred, and for a split second, all he could see was his own twisted, monstrous reflection before his eyes refocused to Obi-Wan kneeling in front of him.

“At ease, Commander.” He soothed, a cool hand on his cheek. “That’s enough of that.”

Obi-Wan looked over his shoulder to Mace and Luminara. “We’ve gone too far. I’m putting a stop to this. Immediately.”

_“I don’t love you, Obi-Wan Kenobi.”_

_“I hate you.”_

Cody hissed a breath out through his teeth, closing his eyes again. His elbows and knees were shaking slightly, and he felt dizzy. He was going to throw up all over these Jedi’s feet if he didn’t get out of here soon.

Obi-Wan graciously spared him any further response. He helped Cody to his feet, and didn’t address the Jedi any further as he helped his Commander stumble from the room.

As they left, Cody heard Mace Windu’s voice again behind him.

“Contact Skywalker. I want to know what he can tell us about his Captain and that missing ARC Trooper.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should go ahead and say this now: if you're here for Bly/Aayla, there won't be a lot of that. There's some! Just not a whole lot. 
> 
> If you're here for Plo/Wolffe or Cody/Obi-Wan then BUCKLE TF UP because it's nonstop drama from here on out.


	6. The Chosen One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a feeling this fic is going to be longer than When You Reach Me. I'm glad to see more and more people are coming along for the ride! Thank you so much for all your love so far.

Fives kept one hand firmly on his towel, but lifted the other one in a slow surrender.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh please, don’t feed me that bantha shit.” Tallulah said, keeping the vibro-blade pointed at him. “You think I’m stupid? I’ve tangled with my fair share of Republic troops, I know a clone when I see one. Even if they’re skinny as hell and they haven’t had a haircut in weeks.”

“If you knew what I was, then why did you bring me into the fold? Give me a place to stay?” Fives countered.

“Truth? Because I thought I could sell you back to the Republic. Or the Separatists. Whoever paid higher.” Tallulah replied.

 _Figures_ , Fives thought. “Well why haven’t you?”

“Because I pitied you.”

Tallulah closed the knife, setting it back on the little nightstand beside Fives’ bed. “Go ahead. Get dressed. We need to talk.”

Fives’ frown deepened, his confusion growing. “What – well are you going to sit there and watch me change?” he asked.

“I just told you I manipulated you and planned on selling you to the Separatists. You think I’m going to give you the opportunity to shoot me in the back when I’m not looking?” Tallulah asked. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Unless the Jedi pay extra for their clones to have a bit of extra hardware down there.”

Fives cursed in Mando’a under his breath, muttering to himself as he snatched clothes out of his drawers with more force than was necessary. “I wouldn’t shoot you in the back.” He mumbled angrily, pulling on a shirt with one hand before tracking down pants. He glanced at Tallulah over his shoulder, and saw she had, in fact, turned away. He dropped his towel and quickly finished getting dressed, tossing the towel back in the refresher when he was finished.

“So what? You pitied me?” Fives asked, shoving his hands into his pants pockets and refusing to sit. “Why? Because I’m a clone? Decided you didn’t have the heart to sell me off to the highest bidder, because you suddenly decided that I’m a person?”

“Don’t get all preachy.” Tallulah said, shaking her head and turning back around. “You just… you weren’t what I had expected.”

Fives spread his arms wide. “Expect a droid? I’m flesh and blood, just like you.”

“I know that. I _knew_ that.” Tallulah argued. “I wish you could’ve seen yourself the way I saw you. After I caught your hand in my pocket and I cornered you…” She trailed off.

“Pitied me because I was just that pathetic out there on my own, huh?”

 _“No.”_ Tallulah almost snarled it. “No, I pitied you because – because of the way you looked at me when I pointed my gun at you.” She met his eyes again. “You were so angry, so defiant and resigned, but…”

“But?”

She shook her head again. “It’s like… It’s like I was looking at a kid. Even with your nasty hair and beard, and ripped up clothes, and your dumb ass little knife pointed at me… your eyes. In your eyes, you just looked like a scared little kid.”

Fives opened his mouth to argue, but the words wouldn’t come out. What the hell was he supposed to say to that?

_“Shoot me for all I care. I’ve got nothing left to lose.”_

_“What made you so angry, huh? You robbed me. Or did you forget about that already?”_

_“Fuck you.”_

_“Maybe after you shower, tough guy. You look hungry, c’mon.”_

_“… What?”_

_“You heard me. On your feet, let’s go.”_

“Jeez, were you this hot headed in the army too? Is that why they chased you off?” Tallulah tilted her head at him. “Or did you leave on your own?”

“I left because they were going to kill me if I didn’t.” Fives snapped, coming back to himself. “I didn’t have another choice.”

“And if they weren’t trying to kill you,” Tallulah pressed. “Would you have left anyway? Eventually?”

Truthfully, Fives hadn’t considered that before. He thought of General Krell, of Hevy, Echo, and the rest of Domino Squad. He was nothing more than fodder to the Republic, bred for the purpose of dying. He was more than that. He could leave, if he wanted. He could have deserted, escaped somehow after Rishi, after losing Echo, after Krell. What’s one clone to them when they have a million and one others waiting to take his place?

He thought of Rex, then, and remembered why he stayed.

“No.” He said at last. “No. I wouldn’t have left.”

“Because?”

“Because it’s the only thing I knew!” Fives lost his temper. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go.” _And I couldn’t leave Rex behind._

Tallulah was quiet for a beat, then stretched out on his bed, scooting back to the headboard so she could sit up comfortably.

“So, what did you do then?” She asked. “Why’d they want to kill you?”

“Why do you _care?”_

“Because I want to know if I made the right call saving your ass, or if I should’ve left you to rot in a Separatist cell somewhere.” Tallulah said.

“Sounds like you’ve already got your mind made up one way or another.” Fives said.

“Maybe I do, but that doesn’t mean I’m not curious. So, Fives. What did you do?”

Fives sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Whole story?” he asked. Tallulah nodded.

“Whole story.”

Fives huffed a little humorless chuckle, and sat down on the edge of the bed, his back to Tallulah.

“The clone army was created from the DNA of Jango Fett.” He began. “He was killed on the battle of Geonosis, the one that ignited the Clone Wars. Since his death, the DNA supply to continue making clones has been wearing thin, so the Republic was looking for a new source of DNA.”

He looked down at his hands, closed them into fists.

“They chose me.”

~

“I don’t need you to walk me back to my quarters, I can handle it fine myself.”

Cody knew he was being curt, and didn’t bother to check himself. He didn’t look at Obi-Wan as he pulled away, and the Jedi just nodded.

“If you’re certain.” Obi-Wan murmured, letting go of Cody’s arm. “I can contact a medic, if you would like -.”

“Should the need arise, I’ll contact a medic myself, thank you.” Cody said, standing at attention. “Is there anything else you need from me, sir?”

Obi-Wan’s expression softened slightly, and the man looked like he’d aged twenty years in just the few minutes they were in the Temple. “Cody,” he began quietly. “We never… I must apologize –.”

“Nothing to be sorry for sir, it’s imperative that the Jedi get to the root of the security breach, regardless of the cost.” Cody said. There was an edge to his voice, and Obi-Wan didn’t miss it. That didn’t stop him from continuing anyway.

“I’m so sorry, Cody.”

The Commander’s entire body tensed, his lips hardening into a thin line.

“You did what you needed to do.” Cody said. “You don’t owe many an apology. You don’t owe me anything at all, sir.”

“That isn’t true.” Obi-Wan glanced around. “Please, just – come to my quarters. Just for a bit? We can talk about this.” He resisted the urge to cup Cody’s cheek, to run his fingers over the thin white scar across the bridge of his nose where it had been broken on Kamino. “Please.”

“Is it an order, sir?”

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, and shook his head. “No, Cody. It’s not.”

“Then I’m afraid I must be getting back to my men.” Cody replied. “I’ve left them unattended long enough.” He shifted his grip on his helmet. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning for our briefing, sir.”

He about faced and quickly walked away before Obi-Wan could say anything else.

 _It’s better this way,_ Cody thought, refusing to turn around even though he knew Obi-Wan was watching him. _It’s safer this way, for him…_

_“I don’t love you, Obi-Wan Kenobi.”_

_“I hate you.”_

_… and for me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone mentioned that I haven't brought Rex back into the story since the very beginning. Worry not! He's coming back next chapter.


	7. A Mutual Understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters today because it's difficult for me to update on weekends due to work and personal commitments. Enjoy!
> 
> *Graphic description of burn injury*

Fives had told Tallulah everything he knew, from being abducted from the barracks all the way up to walking away from Rex’s bacta tank. He recounted how the medics helped smuggle him out of Kamino and onto a transport ship bound for Felucia to resupply Republic troops with much-needed medical supplies. Halfway there, more soldiers aboard the transport helped him onto a much smaller ship which got him as far as the Outer Rim, where he had been holed up until Tallulah found him.

“So they wanted to kill you because they wanted your DNA, and they chose you because you survived?” Tallulah asked. “What a load of Bantha shit. You didn’t even survive because you were the strongest one there, you only survived because Rex protected you.”

“Yeah.” Fives murmured. “Makes me wonder, since he was second… did they take him instead of me?” He said quietly. The thought hadn’t occurred to him until now, but it made his blood run cold. “Kriff… when I left, did I condemn him to that same fate? Or one of the others? Cody was still alive too at the end, but he wasn’t – he wasn’t normal, was he like that when he woke up too -.”

“Hey,” Tallulah murmured. “There’s no point in thinking like that. You’re just going to dig yourself into a hole.”

The pair fell quiet, both of them laying together on Fives’ bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“So it was him then?” She asked.

“Hmm?”

“Him. Your Captain. Rex, right? That’s the reason you never left sooner. You stayed because of him.”

Fives debated answering, but finally just hummed. “Yeah, something like that.” He murmured.

“Would he have left with you, if you asked?”

“Maybe, after everything that happened on Umbara.” Fives murmured. “Maybe he would’ve been willing to leave. But I never asked. How could I? I couldn’t – he already shoulders so much. Looks after all his men, looks after _me.”_ He shook his head. “I couldn’t burden him with a choice like that.”

“What happened on Umbara?”

“A Jedi turned against us. Got a lot of our men killed, forced us to kill each other. It was all just a – a sick game.” Fives muttered. “He didn’t think of us as people. We were just… creatures. Animals in a little game.”

“Ya know, the more you tell me about the Jedi, the less inclined I am to like them.”

“There are good ones.” Fives continued. “Like Commander Tano, or General Kenobi and General Plo. General Skywalker isn’t bad either, just reckless. But he’s a strong leader, and he doesn’t leave his men behind.” He smiled to himself. “Not many clones are lucky to have good Generals. Rex and Skywalker work well together. They’ve got similar personalities.”

Tallulah smiled to herself. “Have you contacted him at all? Does he know you’re okay?”

“I’m … not sure.” Fives admitted. “The Kaminoans said their memories would be wiped. I’m not sure he even remembers who I am anymore… If he’s still alive.” Grim thoughts of Rex being taken out of that bacta tank only for the death march to the reconditioning room wormed their way back into Fives’ brain, but were quickly pushed away when Tallulah propped herself over him.

“What’s stopping you?” Tallulah asked.

“Technically speaking? I don’t have a proper communicator.” Fives replied.

“Hey, what’s wrong with the one we gave you?”

“His private comm channels are encrypted, not to mention I’d need a specialized Republic commlink just to be able to get to his channel in the first place.”

Tallulah nodded. “Okay, and not technically speaking?”

Fives sighed. “Fine. Maybe I’m scared of what I’ll find when I call him. You happy?”

“Well, at least you’ll know.” Tallulah said. “Better to know than eat yourself up with worry and guilt forever, right?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, Tal. Maybe it’s for the best. I’d be putting him in danger if I try to contact him. Maybe it’s just as well if we both just… move on.”

“Sounds like you’re giving up.” Tallulah said. “I didn’t have you pegged for a quitter.”

“I’m not quitting, I’m trying to do what’s best for him.” Fives replied. “For both of us.”

“Cut the noble Bantha shit. Do you love him?”

“What?”

“You heard me.” Tallulah crossed her arms, looking over at him. “Do. You. Love him?”

Fives studied her for a moment, their faces only inches apart on the bed. She was pretty. And kind, even if she was stubborn and pushy and annoying.

She reminded him, just a little bit, of Echo.

“Yes.” He said finally. “Yes, I love him. More than anything.”

She sat up, cracking her knuckles. “So, what’ll it take to get our hands on a Republic communicator? Think we could buy one off the black market somewhere in Coruscant?”

“Maybe, but the black-market comms can be easily traced, and I don’t want the Republic finding out where I am, or to lead them back to you and the others.”

“Aw, shucks. You worry about us. Even Rhokan?”

Fives chuckled in spite of himself. “Yeah, even Rhokan. Besides, I think I know a way we may be able to get a message to Rex. The one place in Coruscant where a clone trooper can blend in easy.”

He glanced at Tallulah, rising to his feet. “You ever heard of a bar called 79s?”

~

His hands were shaking.

Captain Rex clenched his fists, taking a slow, deep breath, his fingernails digging into his palms even through the gloves.

He wasn’t sure why this was happening, it had never bothered him before. But lately, Rex was finding it extremely difficult to shower.

The refresher stalls were small and cramped, the tight metal walls felt suffocating around Rex now – they’d never felt that way before – and any time he used the hot water, he could feel the heat emitting from the metal walls of the stall, and it made his skin crawl like he was on fire. He didn’t know what had gotten into him, but, according to Kix’s diagnosis, he’d developed some kind of severe claustrophobia, and his skin was extremely sensitive to heat. Kix couldn’t explain why, and neither could Rex.

He looked down at his black gloves, the only clothing he still had on. They were specially made, General Skywalker, Kix, and Rex himself had worked together to design and develop them. Three pairs of jet black, carefully designed gloves, so Rex could trade them out as needed. They kept the pain at bay, and helped the skin to heal – or at least, the skin had been healing up until about a month ago, when all progress stopped. Kix and General Skywalker were still tinkering around with new prototypes whenever they could, but as the galaxy’s war raged, casualty numbers heightened, and Kix and Skywalker were both needed elsewhere, and Rex couldn’t justify wasting any more time and resources on his own hands.

Reluctantly, he peeled away the offending fabric, looking down at his now exposed right hand. The flesh was pink and red, with gnarled sections of white where the skin had scarred over so many times that it had become tough and rigid. It hurt to flex his fingers, to hold his gun, to do _anything_ required of him as a soldier.

Rex removed his left glove next, appraising his wounded hands with a measured hatred. He didn’t understand why the Jedi even bothered to bring him back to the army. They should have decommissioned him right then and there as soon as the Kaminoans saw the state of his hands.

He had nothing waiting for him here anyway.

He huffed softly under his breath, and stepped into the shower, hanging his towel on the outside of the refresher and stepping in, setting the water to cold. Get in. Clean up. Get out. That’s all there was to it.

He kept his eyes closed, showering as quickly as possible, keeping his breathing level and mind focused.

_The air burned his lungs, seared his throat. He couldn’t open his eyes anymore, fearful of the moisture being boiled right out of them._

Rex forced the thoughts away, squeezing his eyes shut tight again and taking a slow, measured breath. “Pull yourself together.” He muttered. His hands hurt, the cool water still stinging his knuckles, the soap on his palms agonizing.

_He could feel his jacket being singed. Little gods, the smell._

Rex flinched again, focusing on the chill of the water. He wasn’t being burned, he wasn’t on fire.

_The smell of his hair being burnt, his skin blistering. Briefly, he thought of the flower tucked into his pocket, wondered whose life it belonged to and if that person would burn up with the flower._

_The Flower…_

Rex gasped, and threw open the door to the refresher, tumbling out and falling hard onto the floor, water puddling around him as he scrambled backwards, trying to catch his breath.

Why did the flower mean something to him? What was that – that _memory?_

“Still?”

Rex jolted again, whipping his head around. Jesse was leaning against the wall, his pauldron and kama still on despite he’d been released from duty for at least an hour now – still carrying around all that newly promoted ARC Trooper bravado.

Rex sighed, sitting up and snatching his towel off the hook, wrapping it around his hips as he stood up. “You’re out of line, soldier,” he grunted, pushing himself to his feet. “You aren’t supposed to be in the Captain’s quarters.”

“Kix gave me his override code.” Jesse said, finally pushing himself off the wall. “He wanted someone to come check on you, but I guess you yelled at him one time too many, so he sent me instead.”

Rex huffed softly, but felt a pang of guilt in his chest. “I’m fine.” He muttered. “I’ve got it all under control.”

“You don’t.”

Rex sighed again, rubbing his eyes. “No,” he agreed. “No, I don’t.”

Jesse stepped further into the room, following Rex over to his footlocker, watching him pull a clean set of fatigues from the box. Jesse could see the scars spread eagled across his Captain’s back. Angry, vicious burn scars, residual from whatever “accident” they’d had on Kamino. The burns twisted up around his shoulders and to his neck, like they were choking him, the burns getting redder and angrier the further down his arms they traveled, until skin became almost unrecognizable at his wrists.

“How are your hands?”

Rex stopped dead in his movements, but only for a moment before calmly resuming getting dressed.

“They’re fine.” He said, grabbing a fresh pair of black gloves from his footlocker and sliding them on before Jesse could get a good look at the gnarled, scarred flesh of his hands.

“Kix wanted me to ask.” Jesse said, lifting his hands in surrender. “Wanted me to make sure you’re still applying bacta to them regularly.”

“Applying bacta for the rest of my life isn’t a solution.” Rex muttered, straightening up and holding his fatigues. He raised an eyebrow at Jesse. “You going to watch me dress?”

Jesse turned, crossing his arms. “Any word on Commander Tano?”

“Don’t.” Rex’s voice was cold and sharp, like the blade of a knife as he spun around to face Jesse again, only half dressed, his shirt tight in his fist. “Do. Not.”

“They’re saying she killed someone in custody, Rex. They’re saying she’s responsible for that bombing.”

“It isn’t true.” Rex snapped. “I know her. _You_ know her. She came for us on Kamino, after – after everything. She’s not capable of doing something this – this evil. It’s not in her blood.” He shook his head. “She’s just a kid, Jesse.” 

“So are you and Skywalker going to track her down?”

“We’re trying.” Rex sighed. “Truthfully, Skywalker’s gone looking for her on his own. He thinks he has a lead, but doesn’t want to expose the rest of the Jedi to her before he has a chance to talk to her first. He asked me to keep it a secret.”

“My lips are sealed sir.”

Rex nodded, grabbing his shirt again. Jesse watched his hands. It was odd, seeing Rex shirtless but still wearing gloves. Jesse, like the rest of the men who’d returned from the ordeal on Kamino, had no recollection of what happened to them, but what ever it was, it had nearly destroyed Rex. He’d remained in the bacta tank for days after the rest of them had woken up, and still had residual scarring after the fact. His hands had gotten the worst of it, and Jesse knew he was in pain, no matter how much Rex tried to hide it. 

“Does it hurt? Your hands.”

“No.” Rex answered far too quickly. He glanced at Jesse out of the corner of his eye. “The gloves help.”

He paused again, chewing on his lip. “Do you think Fives is dead?”

The question came out of left field, and Jesse blinked in surprise. He regained his composure, and took a slow, measured breath.

“I think,” he began cautiously. “That it does no one any good to continue spending time thinking about it. The past is in the past Rex, leave it there.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” Rex looked up at Jesse again. “Do you think he’s dead?”

Jesse looked down at the floor. Then up at the ceiling. Anywhere but at his Captain.

“I think you would’ve heard from him by now if he was alive, sir.” He didn’t meet his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Rex nodded, and pulled his shirt on over his head, smoothing it out. The grey of his fatigues contrasted the sharp onyx of his gloves, and he flexed his fingers for a beat.

“For what it’s worth,” Jesse began. “The only thing that would’ve stopped Fives from coming back to you would be death itself.” He put a hand on Rex’s shoulder. “He would’ve wanted you to move on.”

Rex scrubbed a gloved hand over his face, and closed his eyes for a beat. Then, he shook his head, a renewed determination in his expression.

“No.” He said firmly, pulling away from Jesse. “No. I have to show you something. All of you. This can’t wait.”

“Rex, listen to me-.”

“No.” Rex insisted, grabbing his commlink. “No, you listen to me. He’s alive. I _know_ he’s alive. I can feel it.”

“What, are you a Jedi now?” Jesse asked. “Karkin’ hell, Rex. We’ve all been through the ringer this past year, but you’ve got to get ahold -.”

_“Rex. I don’t know when you’ll get this, or if you’ll ever get this. Hell, I don’t even know if you’ll remember me, if you ever hear this.”_

Jesse paused as Rex played Fives’ message for both of them to hear.

“That’s – That’s Fives’ voice.”

“Recorded just _hours_ before I woke up in that kriffin’ bacta tank.” Rex said. “And there’s more to it than just that. Fives knows what happened to us on Kamino. He remembers what the rest of us forgot.”

“Well, what did he say?” Jesse pressed.

“Not here. It isn’t safe.” Rex quickly tucked away his communicator again. “Gather everyone you can, quickly and quietly. All the boys who were with us on Kamino. I’ll handle the Commanders, you get Kix and Tup.”

“Kriff, Rex, you’ve held onto this for three months?”

“They’ve been in our _heads,_ Jesse.” Rex hissed. “I didn’t know who to trust. This is bigger than any of us. We have to be careful about this.” He nudged Jesse out. “Go, gather the others. We’ll meet at 79’s. Hurry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seven clones, an ARC Trooper, and a crew of bounty hunters walk into a bar...


	8. Jedi Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your continued support. I love reading all your comments and messages. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart. <3

“Were you able to capture Padawan Tano?”

Anakin’s fists were clenched, despite how hard he tried to control his emotions. “No.” He said finally. “No, she got away from us, towards the lower levels of Coruscant. The Coruscant Guard is patrolling the area, her photo has been distributed.” His lips curled. “Everything is just as you asked, Master Windu.”

Mace nodded. “See to it that she is captured quickly. We must bring her to justice and resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”

Anakin nodded, holding his tongue. Like hell he was going to let them hurt Ahsoka. He had to get to her first. If he could just go to the Coruscant underworld by himself, without any men – without even Rex – maybe he could persuade her to come back peacefully, so they could work this out.

“Skywalker, there is something else we wanted to discuss with you.” Mace continued. “Your Captain, Rex, is it? He was among the men who were rescued from Kamino.”

“Yes Master.” Anakin confirmed. “Rex, along with Jesse, Kix, and Tup. They were all from the 501st.”

“And what about the ARC Trooper Fives? He was from the 501st too, yes?”

Anakin frowned, not sure where this was going. “Yes Master, but – but he was killed.”

“Do you think your Captain believes he was killed?”

Anakin, truthfully, had never had a discussion with Rex about what happened, beyond conversations about how to heal his hands. “I… I don’t know, Master.” Anakin admitted. “My captain was gravely injured from… from whatever circumstances occurred at Kamino. Our focus has been on healing his injuries, not personal conversations.”

He quickly changed the subject before Mace could interrogate him further. “Did you have any luck finding out more from the other troopers?”

“We were met with some success after our latest session with Commander Cody.” Mace replied.

“And what was your conclusion?”

“We believe the clones were given some kind of simulated test, where they had to fight and even kill one another to survive.” Mace answered.

Anakin tensed. He remembered reading the reports on Umbara, the anguish he’d felt that he couldn’t protect his own men against Krell – and the horror when he realized what his own Captain had to go through.

Whatever had happened on Kamino… it sounded eerily similar.

“To what end?” He asked finally.

“The Chancellor ordered the tests. He wanted to find the strongest clone of the bunch, and use his DNA to continue producing more clones. As a contingency plan, for when Jango Fett’s DNA inevitably runs out.” Mace explained.

“What? The Chancellor?” Anakin asked. “He’d never do something like that! You must have misunderstood.”

“Skywalker, the Chancellor told us himself he’d ordered the tests to be done on the troopers. He commanded their systematic abduction and torture. He’s the reason your Captain was so gravely injured, and the ARC Trooper is missing.”

“He wouldn’t have ordered their torture! The Kaminoans are at fault for this, not the Chancellor!” Anakin snapped. Mace narrowed his eyes, and Anakin frowned deeper, trying to collect himself. “You said missing.” He said once he’d calmed down slightly. “You don’t believe Fives is dead?”

“We’d like to confirm, with the same procedure we did on the others also conducted on your Captain.” Mace said. “He’s the only one we haven’t probed for memories yet, due to his injuries. But the only way we can confirm our suspicions is if we investigate Rex as well.”

“What does it matter?” Anakin asked. “You know enough to know the Kaminoans tortured the clones, why not hold them responsible for it _without_ continuing to torment my men?!”

“Because a Republic clone, especially a highly-trained ARC Trooper like Fives, is a liability.” Mace said forcefully. “We must find him, and bring him back to the army. The clone army could be compromised, Skywalker. We do not know the extent of the damage done here.”

Anakin wasn’t focused on any of that. “What’ll you do to Fives if you do find him?” He asked. “Recondition him? Decommission him entirely?”

“We will do what we think is best when the time comes.” Mace insisted. “But before we can do any of that, we must first find him. The key is through your Captain.”

He turned away without another word. “Bring him to us as soon as you are able. Then, and only then, can you continue searching for your Padawan.”

Anakin grit his teeth, keeping his fists clenched as he stormed out of the room.

~

Bly always looked so young whenever he was in her bed, even more so now.

Aayla Secura could not begin to understand the trauma these men went through on a daily basis, and even more so the trauma that had been dealt them at the hands of the Kaminoans, but she couldn’t deny it: She was grateful, that when she went with Plo Koon and Ahsoka Tano to rescue the troopers, her Commander seemed the least affected by it all.

Bly had been confused, of course. Rattled, and afraid, but he had recovered quickly, and seemed completely back to normal within just a few days of returning home. The weight of what had happened didn’t seem to be as heavy on him as it did the others, and Aayla’s gratefulness intermingled with guilt. Knowing Bly had returned home safe to her – safe and unharmed – but also knowing Skywalker had not only lost one of his best soldiers, but his Captain was brutally injured.

Aayla smiled, studying Bly as he slept. His face was mashed against the pillow, head turned to the side. His cheeks were warm and rosy with the lazy morning light, a hand over his tummy. She bent over to kiss him, her lips soft against his own, and pulled the blankets back up over him.

Bly stirred at the kiss, and rolled over towards her, lifting his sleepy head from the pillows and instead tucking it against her chest. “’Lo.” He slurred, voice still thick with sleep. His arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her close, and she chuckled, scratching her nails through his buzzed hair.

“Good morning.” She greeted. “Your communicator has been going off. Someone is looking for you.”

“If that someone isn’t you, then I’m not in any major hurry.” Bly mumbled back, cracking open one eye to look at her. He gave her a lazy smile before closing his eyes again.

Aayla glanced over at the communicator, hearing it trill quietly again, and picked it up, offering it to Bly. “That someone may come looking for you before too much longer.” She warned. “You remember the last time a few young ones came looking for you here.”

“Yeah, almost caught me with my head between your legs.” Bly replied, kissing her cheek lightly as he glanced at the communicator. He frowned, and Aayla felt the note of concern bleed into the Force.

“What is it?”

“It’s Captain Rex, from the 501st.” Bly murmured. “He wants to meet tonight.”

“Will you see him?”

“I should, right?” Bly hummed. “I don’t really know what to say to him, Aayla. Feels… wrong, knowing I didn’t get hit like the others did.”

“Survivor’s guilt.” Aayla mused, touching his cheek and brushing her thumb over the yellow patched tattoos on his cheekbones. “Bly, you are not at fault for surviving. You shouldn’t avoid them out of this fear.”

Bly nodded, glancing at the communicator again. Pressed a button. “Rex?” He asked, brushing a hand gently over Aayla’s Lekku, making her shiver lightly.

_“Bly, good to hear from you. I assume you got my message?”_

“Yeah, where do you want to meet?”

_“Are you alone?”_

Bly hesitated only for a beat, looking up at Aayla for a moment as his hand stilled.

“Yeah.”

 _“Good.”_ A pause. _“We’re meeting at 79’s at 2100 hours. Tonight. All of us who were on Kamino. Can you be there?”_

Bly looked up at Aayla again, and the Jedi once again felt his concern in the Force, lighting up the room like a firework.

“Yeah. Yeah, I can be there. What’s this about, Rex?”

A _long_ pause. _“I can’t say. Just be there, Bly. Please.”_

The call ended, and Bly looked to Aayla.

“I won’t say a word.” Aayla promised. “Just be careful. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“There isn’t a lot you wouldn’t do, Aayla.” Bly teased, but leaned forward to kiss her anyway. “’m sure he just wants to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't picked it up by now, you may notice I'm skirting along the canon timeline a bit. Which means, if you're paying attention, you know that something bad is coming soon... 
> 
> See you tomorrow in the next update. <3


	9. The Calm Before the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I cannot express my gratitude enough. Thank you for all your wonderful comments!

Wolffe kept his palms flat against the mat for a moment, just letting himself feel. His arms and legs trembled, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead and cheeks, dripping onto the backs of his bloodied and bandaged knuckles. The wounds had broken open, and were bleeding through the bandages. Slowly, the commander pulled his hands into fists, closing his eyes and dropping his forehead to the mat, almost like he was praying.

His back ached, his muscles tight and body sore and worn. When he finally straightened up, his joints crackled, and he grunted softly.

“Helix is going to kill you.” Sinker warned, kneeling on the opposite end of the mat. Truthfully, Wolffe had completely forgotten Sinker was there. Lately, The Wolfpack had been refusing to leave Wolffe on his own, no matter how much the Commander fought them and threatened them over it. Sinker and Boost – the only two survivors from Abregado besides himself – knew their Commander well, and knew better than to leave him alone for too long.

They had seen him when he first returned from Kamino, and what it had done to him.

Wolffe shook the memory off, eliciting an unwanted and completely too visible shudder, which made Sinker’s body shift just a fraction of an inch. Unnoticeable, perhaps, to anyone else, but to Wolffe, that minute shift in body language told him that his second in command was mere moments from springing to Wolffe’s aid, should he need it.

“At ease,” Wolffe muttered, using the last of his energy to keep the bite out of his voice. They meant well, as infuriating as the constant watch may be.

“You busted your knuckles open again, sir.” Sinker said.

“At ease.” Wolffe repeated, leveling Sinker with a dark look. He pushed himself to his feet, looking down at his bloodied hands. “I’ll clean it up myself. Tell Helix and I’m putting you on latrine duty for a month.”

“You still haven’t told us what happened, sir.” Sinker said quietly. “You’ve been different, since you came back.”

“I already told you I don’t remember anything.” Wolffe growled, stretching before grabbing a towel and wiping the sweat off his face.

“Bantha shit.”

Wolffe leveled Sinker with another look. Sinker didn’t flinch.

“We’re all we’ve got left, Wolffe.” Sinker said quietly. “You, me, and Boost. Talk to us.”

Wolffe sighed, and drew a slow, heavy breath, but was interrupted by the sound of his commlink beeping. He glanced at the commlink, and gave Sinker a small smile.

“Another time.” He said, rising to his feet. “I’ve got an engagement.”

“Engagement?” Sinker said, rising with him and cursing under his breath as his knees buckled slightly. “With who?”

“The 501st.”

~

Fives and Tallulah ended up falling asleep together that night.

Nothing happened, which Fives kept insisting to Rhokan despite the suggestive looks and lewd comments he kept throwing their way the next morning. Truthfully, Fives had missed the constant feeling of companionship, of _togetherness_ he got from his fellow soldiers, and falling asleep next to Tallulah had earned him the best night of sleep he’d had since this all started.

So they did it a second time. And a third.

They’d kept to their own sides of the bed, back to back. When Fives had woken up first, early in the morning on their third day in hyperspace, he didn’t wake Tallulah, and instead went to the bridge by himself.

Rhokan was now the one at the controls – Fiske must have traded him sometime during the night – and Fives cleared his throat behind him.

“Mind if I sit?” he asked.

“Knock yourself out, kid.”

Fives settled into the co-pilot’s chair, looking out towards the expanse of hyperspace.

“Gettin’ close to Coruscant.” Rhokan told him. “Not much longer and we’ll be back on your turf.” He glanced over at Fives, noting the man’s unusually quiet and pensive demeanor. “Something on your mind?”

“No,” Fives murmured. “No I’m just… thinking, I suppose.”

Rhokan chuckled. “Hard work for you, I imagine.”

Fives didn’t clap back, or even laugh, and Rhokan cleared his throat.

“You know,” He began, shifting slightly in his seat. “Zygerrians, we’re known for our slave markets.”

“I know.” Fives murmured.

“Pipe down, ‘m just getting started.” Rhokan said. “Anyway. I grew up in the palace, yeah? My old man was a steward for the Queen, Miraj Scintel.” He sighed, stretching his arms out behind his head. “Could never understand the point of slaves. Owning another living being. A sentient creature, people with a voice, with families, with faces that looked like ours. Even if they didn’t look like us, they’re still… people.” He murmured.

He glanced over at Fives again to make sure he was paying attention. The soldier was watching him curiously, and Rhokan smiled somewhat bitterly.

“There was a Twi’lek woman, once.” He said. “My father bought her as a gift for the queen, to curry her favor. He wanted me to work under her too, you see, and thought gifting her with a new slave was the way to get me in the door.” He closed his eyes, like he was trying to picture her. “She was beautiful. Deep, red skin, all curves and soft edges. The biggest, brightest eyes in the galaxy.” He opened his eyes, smiling distantly. “Her name was Elora, and I loved her.”

“What happened to her?” Fives asked, though a part of him already knew the answer.

“She was killed, right in front of me.” Rhokan replied. “Queen found out I’d been sneaking out to see her, found out that I’d planned on freeing her and escaping with her.” He looked down at his wrists, and began rolling up his sleeve. “The Queen slit Elora’s throat in the middle of the Great Hall, made her lay there and bleed to death while I watched. I knelt in her blood, watched the light go out of her eyes.”

He extended his arm to Fives, showing his inner left forearm. “Then, the Queen gave me this.”

Fives felt his stomach flip. Carved into Rhokan’s arm, in angry, deep scars, was the word “TRAITOR.”

“They cast me out of Zygerria, said they’d kill me if I ever returned.” He chuckled. “They should’ve just done us all the favor and killed me then and there.”

Fives swallowed, turning back to the window as Rhokan rolled his sleeve back down. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be, kid. The past is in the past.” He crossed his arms, propping his feet up on the console. “I bring it up because you,” he gestured lazily to Fives. “And your people, remind me a bit of Elora. And your Jedi – they remind me of my people.”

He looked at Fives. “Do you consider yourself a slave, clone?”

Fives was quiet for a long time, the ethereal blue glow of hyperspace reflecting in his eyes.

“Is that what we are?” He murmured. “They fed us. Clothed us. Some generals would even give us money or little gifts. They’d let us paint our armor, speak for ourselves – well, some of the Generals would. Some… I even know some who have relationships with the clones, or turn the other way when we have relationships with others.”

He paused. “Without them, I wouldn’t exist at all. None of my people would.”

He glanced over at Rhokan for approval, and the Zygerrian shook his head, big ears twitching.

“A taste of freedom doesn’t make you any less a slave, kid.” He said quietly. “Having a kind master… that doesn’t make you free.”

A heavy silence fell between the two of them, until Rhokan stood up with a loud, obnoxious stretch.

“Well kid, time for me to get some shuteye.” He cracked his neck and stretched his back. “Can you hold down the fort until Nan wakes up?”

“Yeah.” Fives murmured. “Yeah, I can do that.”

“Good man.” He put a heavy paw on Fives’ shoulder. Gave it a light little squeeze. “See you around.”

Fives smiled, glancing behind him as he walked off. “Yeah. See you around.”

~

“So, Rhokan told you his story, huh?” Tallulah asked, smiling at Fives as he left his room. He'd gone back to his own quarters to shower after Nanook and Fiske had taken over for him in the cockpit. 

“You’re just going to start hanging out here waiting for me now?” He asked, though he was smiling. Tallulah chuckled.

“I’m just surprised, is all. Rhokan’s not exactly a sharer, and no offense, but he’s never liked you.”

“We’re more in common than you think.” Fives said, falling into step with her as they headed to the bridge.

“So the others,” Fives began, walking back down the hall towards the bridge with Tallulah. “I mean, I talked to Rhokan. I know he knows, but what about Nan and Fiske? Do they know? About me, I mean. That I’m a clone.”

“Oh yeah,” Tallulah nodded. “Pretty much from like, the second you boarded the ship.”

Fives rolled his eyes. “Greaaaat.”

“The only one of us who didn’t know right away you were a clone was Nan, and even then, I think she picked it up pretty quick after that.” Tallulah chuckled.

“If you all knew, why did you let me carry on like I have been for the past month and a half?” Fives asked.

“We figured if you wanted to come clean, you’d do it eventually.” She shrugged. “We’ve all got our secrets. Your past is your own, Fives. It’s what you do in the future that counts for something.”

Fives chuckled. “So do all of you have some kind of dark history then, or is it just Rhokan?”

“Depends on who you ask and the way they tell it.” Tallulah said. “Take Fiske for example, you wanna know his full name? Miif’isketn’attou.”

“Me-Fiske-a… what?”

Tallulah laughed. “Miif’isketn’attou. He goes by the core name Fiske, and made up Errvodu for a surname. Think he got it from a brand of Correlian whiskey, actually.”

“I can see why. That name’s a mouthful.”

“He’s a member of the ninth ruling class of Csilla.”

“No shit, he’s a prince?” Fives asked, bewildered. “I s’pose that makes sense, just from the way he acts. So why’d he leave?”

“He said he got bored.” Tallulah shrugged. “Won’t say anything else about it. Honestly, I think he’s telling the truth. Must be boring being royalty.” She rolled her eyes.

“And Nanook? What’s her story?”

“She lost her parents during one of the first skirmishes at the beginning of the Clone Wars. She’s been on her own for years.” Tallulah replied. “She bounced around, worked odd jobs, then she got her break when she won this ship in a game of Sabacc.”

“Bantha shit.”

“Truth.” Tallulah laughed. “Ask her about it. If you do, she’ll make you play her in Sabacc, and I’ve never seen her lose.” She added as a warning.

Fives chuckled, and knocked her affectionately in the shoulder. “So what’s your secret then? How’d you end up running around the galaxy in this junker with a teenage Nautolan, a Zygerrian, and a kriffin’ _Chiss_ all in the same space?”

“Don’t let Nanook hear you call the _Leviathan_ a junker.” Tallulah warned. “And as for me,” She smirked at him. “Maybe I’ll tell you one day.”

They could hear music coming faintly from the bridge, and the two looked at each other before Tallulah opened the door. There was _loud_ music pumping out of the ship’s communicator, and Nanook and Rhokan were dancing in the center of the cockpit.

“What’s going on?” Tallulah shouted over the music.

“We’re dancing!” Nanook shouted back, laughing and reaching for her. “C’mon! It’s fun!”

“Let’s go, boy, it won’t bite ya!” Rhokan called to Fives, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him forward before he could protest. “Did they teach you to dance out there in the Rim, boy?”

“No!” Fives hollered back, but he was laughing even still, holding a hand out for Tallulah to join. Tallulah raised her eyebrow, and he gave her a half-shrug, with an expression that said “If you can’t beat them, join them.”

Tallulah rolled her eyes, but took his hand, letting him pull her into the circle as the music blasted around them. Fives caught a glimpse of Fiske, still stationed at the front of the cockpit piloting the ship, but he had a small smile on his face, and was bobbing his head along to the music.

Fives _grinned,_ for the first time in what felt like years, and spun Tallulah around before dipping her. Beside them, Rhokan lifted Nanook off the ground and spun her around.

“Hey,” Fiske called from the cockpit. “We’re coming out of hyperspace.”

The music died down, and a strange stillness filled the ship as the Leviathan Crew settled again, Nanook sliding back into the pilot’s chair. Fives leaned over the back of the chair, peering out the window as they exited hyperspace, Coruscant coming into view. Fives took a slow breath.

“Ready or not, here we come.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just let me have my cheesy gratuitous dance scene before everything goes to hell. 
> 
> (Also, if you're curious what song I'm imagining during that scene, it's "Wrong" by the Airborne Toxic Event. My all time favorite band, if anyone was wondering lol).   
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZwqC0KzH3Q
> 
> Also, I plan on posting a playlist for If You Find Me on my Tumblr sometime in the near-future, if you're interested in that!


	10. Reaching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to pick up quick from here on out. Good luck. 
> 
> Thank you as always for all the comments and support!

Rex had found a quiet, circular booth in the far corner of 79s, away from most of the music and dancing. Quiet enough that he’d be able to talk to the others, but also loud enough around them that nobody would overhear their conversation.

He slid into one end, Commander Cody following along behind him. “Remind me again why you felt the need to meet here, of all places?” He asked, sighing as he looked around the room. “I’ve never been a fan of the bar scene.”

“It’s the only place where we can meet without seeming suspicious.” Rex replied.

“Why all the secrecy?” Cody asked.

“I’ll explain once everyone else gets here.” He shifted again, nodding as he spotted Jesse, Kix, and Tup enter from the side door. Jesse had an arm around Kix’s waist, and Tup’s hair was in a low ponytail instead of his usual topknot. Jesse spotted Rex from across the bar, and murmured something to Kix before kissing his temple and shooing Tup and Kix towards Rex.

“Jesse is getting us drinks.” Kix reported, sliding into the booth. “Everything okay?” he asked. Rex didn’t miss the way his medic eyed his gloves, and Rex self-consciously dropped his hands under the table.

“Everything’s fine.” Rex said, folding his hands neatly in his lap.

“What’s this about?” Tup asked, glancing at Cody. The Commander just shrugged, and Rex shook his head.

“Not until everyone else gets here, _vod’ika.”_ He said again. Cody sighed softly under his breath, and Jesse returned moments later, sliding drinks around the table to everyone and settling into the booth next to Kix. He slung an arm over the medic’s shoulder, pulling him close and planting a little kiss on his temple.

“Do you know what this is about?” Kix asked Jesse in a low voice. Jesse nodded, dropping his head to talk quietly into Kix’s ear.

“Rex has a message from Fives. He wants us to hear it. He thinks there’s something bigger going on.”

Kix made a soft noise, resisting the urge to put his head in his hands.

Bly arrived a few minutes later, and Wolffe came last, leaning against the edge of the booth instead of actually sitting down.

“So what’s all this about then?” Wolffe asked, looking lazily around the bar before settling back on Rex.

“What I’m about to say must stay between the seven of us.” Rex said quietly, pulling out his communicator and laying it on the table. “Nobody, not the other _vode,_ and _definitely_ not the Jedi can know.” He looked at Wolffe and Bly in particular. “Understood?”

Wolffe wanted to reply with something sarcastic, but saw the gravity in Rex’s expression and thought better of it. “Yeah.” He said. “Stays between us, Captain. Will you tell us what’s going on now?”

Rex hesitated a beat, then beckoned them a little closer, pressing play on his communicator.

_“Rex. I don’t know when you’ll get this, or if you’ll ever get this. Hell, I don’t even know if you’ll remember me, if you ever hear this. Listen. Things are bad. Very bad. We were tricked. We were all part of this – this experiment. You were hurt and I -. I tried to save you Rex. I tried. But you saved me instead. Karkin’ di’kut.”_

Rex glanced around the table, gauging the reactions of his fellow soldiers. Tup had his hands folded in front of his mouth, expression serious. Both Kix and Jesse had leaned in when they realized who was speaking. Wolffe’s frown had only deepened, and Bly, like Rex, was glancing at the others throughout the message.

Cody, however, was who drew Rex’s attention. Cody’s arms were crossed, and he wasn’t focused on the communicator at all. Rather, he was watching Rex.

_“I have to go away for awhile. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to come back, but as soon as I can, I’ll try to contact you again. I’ll find a way to tell you where I am. And when you reach me, I’ll explain everything. Everything will be alright, Rex. I promise.”_

Rex cut off the message before Fives could conclude with “I love you,” and looked around at his men again.

“That’s the ARC Trooper right? The one that’s missing?” Bly asked. “So, he’s alive then?”

“We aren’t sure.” Jesse answered for Rex. “That message was recorded on Rex’s commlink before he’d even woken up. Before any of us had woken up.”

“You knew about this?” Kix asked, pulling away from Jesse a bit to look at him incredulously.

“He only told me a few hours before the rest of you.” Jesse replied. “And that’s only because I wouldn’t leave him be.”

Rex smiled slightly at Jesse, then turned to the rest of the group again. “Fives was trying to warn me, and warn all of us.”

“About what?” Wolffe crossed his arms. “Why not just come right out and say what he was afraid of if he wanted us to know so bad?”

“Can you play it again, Rex?” Tup asked softly.

“Err, sure.” Rex said, surprised, but replayed the message anyway.

_“Rex. I don’t know when you’ll get this, or if you’ll ever get this. Hell, I don’t even know if you’ll remember me, if you ever hear this. Listen. Things are bad. Very bad. We were tricked. We were all part of this – this experiment.”_

“Stop there.” Tup said suddenly, snatching up the communicator before Rex could even lift a finger. He replayed it, holding it close to his ear. “There.” He nodded. “There, I’m sure of it. Just before he pauses. There’s another voice.”

“Someone is with him.” Cody realized, glancing at Rex. Rex took the communicator back, holding it against his ear. Sure enough, he could hear a faint voice whisper something in the background of Fives’ voice.

“It’s too faint to make out.”

“Maybe for you. Give it here.” Cody said, plucking the communicator from his hands and hooking it up to his wrist-com, tweaking it slightly.

“I’m sorry, hold on. Can we back up a moment?” Bly interjected. “Experiment? What is he talking about?”

“Whatever happened to us on Kamino.” Rex said. “Fives was trying to tell us what it was.”

“He said things are bad.” Kix said. “ _Are_ bad, not _were_ bad.”

Rex nodded. He’d picked that up too. “Whatever happened to us on Kamino was just the beginning. Fives found out about something much bigger going on, which is why -.” He swallowed roughly. “Which is why he had to go.”

“But – but I don’t understand.” Bly continued. “If we were experimented on, or if there’s some greater conspiracy at work here, then that’s not just dangerous for us, the whole army could be compromised.” He glanced between the men. “Isn’t that something the Jedi would’ve figured out by now?”

“Well, that’s another question, isn’t it?” Rex asked. “What do we remember?”

A heavy silence settled over the table, juxtaposed against the loud dance track playing throughout the bar and punctuated by the sounds of Cody tinkering with the commlink.

“Fine. I’ll start.” Rex flattened his hands on the table, flexing his gloved fingers in front of them all before peeling one off, flinching as the fabric brushed against his mutilated skin.

“When I woke up, I was like this.” He said, showing them his hand. “There’s more across my entire body, all the way up around my neck, down my back, torso, legs, everywhere. My hands got the worst of it.” He explained. Wolffe grimaced at the sight of the Captain’s hands, and glanced down at his own bloodied and rebandaged knuckles.

“I keep having… dreams, too.” Rex continued. “There’s this – this long, dark hall. And at the end of it is a glass box. I feel like I’m being chased, but I can’t look behind me.” He glanced around at the rest of them. Cody paused his work on his commlink.

“I keep picturing that hallway too.” He murmured. Hesitated. “Except… Except I think I’m the thing that’s chasing you, Rex. It’s not _me,”_ he added quickly, trying to find the right words. “It’s like… like I’ve been turned into something. It’s _me,_ but it’s not my _body._ And I’m not in control of it.”

“Nine hells, is that real?” Bly was getting more confused by the minute.

“It’s like our dreams. The mission we can never complete.” Wolffe murmured. “We’re all remembering something. Pieces of something at least.”

“What about you, Commander, have you remembered anything?” Jesse asked.

_“Bad things are coming, and I’m not going to let you,” He swung the blade, Tup narrowly managing to duck around it. “Or Rex,” Another heavy swing. “Or this fekkin’ maniac,” Another, this time blocked with Tup’s own blade, but the force of it knocked him off-balance. “Or anyone else stop me from getting back to my Jedi!”_

“I…” Wolffe shook his head, deciding against it. “No. No I can’t remember anything.”

“What about physical changes? Besides Rex’s hands, have any of us been feeling anything different?” Kix asked.

“Been getting _terrible_ headaches.” Tup said with a nod. “Can’t think, can barely even see straight when they hit. It’s like I black out for a bit and when I wake up, I can’t remember anything.”

“That’s _bad, vod’ika.”_ Jesse frowned.

“Kix’s been giving me downers to try and help deal with them.” Tup shrugged. “Works for the most part. Thank the little gods it hasn’t happened during a battle. The last time I was in a daze, I woke up with my blaster in hand.” He shuddered. “I don’t want to accidentally hurt anyone.”

“Kix?” Rex prompted.

“His scans keep showing up clean, Captain. I can’t explain it.” He said helplessly. “Same with you and your…” He gestured to Rex’s one exposed hand. “And your ah – concerns.” He said delicately.

“I’ve gotten claustrophobic.” Rex explained to the rest of the group. “Can barely even take a fekkin’ shower without having some kind of panic attack. And something about a flower.” He added as an afterthought. “Every time I’m in a tight space, I get all hot and I start thinking about this flower.”

“Actually, me too.” Bly piped up again, seeming excited to help. “When we left Kamino, and I saw all that water, I thought I was going to kriffin’ faint right there on the landing platform. Kept thinking about some flower too.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Cody said, pausing on the commlink again. “We grew up on Kamino, surrounded by the water. Now suddenly you’re terrified of it?”

“I can’t explain it.” Bly said. “Just thinking about it gives me the creeps.”

"I've been thinking about a flower too." Kix added. "I keep having nightmares about losing them." 

"Losing flowers?" Wolffe raised an eyebrow. "That's it?" 

"You don't understand, it's - it's a fear like I've never known before." Kix murmured. "Like if I lose the flowers, something _terrible_ will happen." 

Jesse nodded, holding Kix a little closer before he spoke again. 

“I keep having nightmares that I’m being killed, over and over again. Choked, drowned, ripped apart, you name it.”

“Choked, like someone’s grabbing you?” Tup asked.

“No.” Jesse shuddered. “No, like I’m being _hanged.”_

“Anything else we can remember?” Rex pressed, looking around the group. “Maybe if – maybe we can retrace our steps, figure out what events correlate with each other. Memories that overlap, and we can start to build a timeline.”

“Alright, what’s the last thing any of us remember, _before_ waking up on Kamino?” Tup asked, grabbing his drink glass and Kix’s and setting them on the table side by side. “I remember being in the mess hall. We’ll say this is the base.” He said, pointing at his own glass. “I don’t… exactly remember what happened, but I remember very clearly I’d gone in there for a bite, and the next thing I know I’m on Kamino.”

“I was here. At 79s. The Wolfpack was with me.” Wolffe spoke up, moving Kix’s glass to the opposite end of the table. “This is the bar.”

“I remember being there too. Kix and I were leaving… that’s when things get fuzzy.” Jesse added.

“The Jedi were tipped off that we were missing when your Wolfpack told General Plo that you hadn’t come back from the bar the night before.” Cody said, nodding to Wolffe. “And when General Plo investigated, they found the security footage of Bly unconscious in the briefing room, and there’s base footage of Fives, Rex, Tup, and me all being taken from inside the base.”

“Who took us?” Bly asked.

“Clone Force 99, acting under orders from the Chancellor.” Wolffe’s voice had an edge to it, and the rest of the troopers fell silent.

“No.” Bly shook his head. “No we – we can’t be doing this. We’re toeing the line of treason here, men. If the Chancellor ordered tests on us, then I’m – I’m sure he had his reasons -.”

“You really want to try and justify this, Commander?” Jesse asked, narrowing his eyes. “Isn’t your Jedi at all concerned about what happened to you? Or is General Secura more of a ‘fuck and ask questions later’ type-.”

Bly nearly launched himself across the table at Jesse, and was only stopped by Wolffe holding him back and Kix moving between the both of them.

“Hey, hey! Easy, Bly, easy!”

“Keep Aayla’s name out of your filthy mouth, _shabuir.”_ Bly spit, still trying to swing at Jesse.

“It may not matter to you, but the _rest of us_ got fucked up by whatever this is. Look at Rex, look at his fekkin’ hands!” Jesse snapped, losing his temper. “If you’re too much of a coward to fight back, then you’re no better than a _dar’manda-.”_

“Enough, now.” Rex hissed. “Keep your voices down and pull yourselves together. We won’t figure anything out at all if we’re all at each other’s throats.”

“Jesse, leave it.” Kix murmured, rubbing his cyare’s back and trying to get him to settle down.

“It’s not -.” Bly panted slightly, calming down a bit. “It’s not my fault I didn’t get hurt like the rest of you. I want to get to the bottom of this just like you do.” He pushed Wolffe’s arms away, settling back into his seat. “I just want us to be smart about this.”

“And we _will_ be smart about this.” Rex promised. “Now, back to what we were discussing. Is there anything else anyone wants to bring up? Anything at all we can remember from before Kamino?”

The men shook their heads. Wolffe was looking back towards the bar, eyes narrowed. He didn’t seem to be paying much attention anymore.

“Alright. Then what about while we were at Kamino? Can anyone remember -.”

“I’ve got it!” Cody said suddenly, flicking Rex’s communicator slightly. He had connected it into his wrist com. “I isolated that voice, I think if we listen to it now we can hear what he’s -.”

“Belay that, Commander.” Wolffe ordered, turning back to the group. “We’re being watched.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	11. Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments! I love them as always. <3

“What’s the plan, kid?”

The Leviathan Crew was gathered a few blocks away from 79s, trying to decide the best way to enter. Fives was disguised, a hood and mask concealing most of his face. If he were recognized as a clone within the bar itself, that wouldn’t be the end of the world – after all, he’d blend in – the problem, however, was avoiding the police droids and probe droids that would surely run facial recognition on him, should they spot him. Only Fives’ eyes were visible. Already, he could feel the thrum of adrenaline in his veins, the feeling he got before a battle.

“Right,” Fives muttered. “We need to get our hands on a Republic communicator, preferably an officer’s.” He explained. “If that’s not possible, a regular trooper’s comm will do the trick, it’ll just take me longer to bypass the encryption codes to contact Rex, and it’s not as secure, so it could be easier to track.”

“Officer’s comm if we can, if not, trooper comm will do. Next?” Rhokan prompted, motioning for Fives to hurry it up.

“We _cannot_ let anyone recognize me.” Fives emphasized. “If we think someone’s made us, we get out of there. Right away. I’m not putting you, or my _vode,_ at risk if I’m recognized.”

“And what if he’s there?” Fiske asked gently. “The one you’re trying to contact.”

“He won’t be.” Fives said confidently. “He only goes to 79’s if I’m there to make him go.”

“Alright, so we get in, get the communicator, and get out.” Nanook nodded.

“No, Tal and I will go in. It’ll be less conspicuous, there aren’t many outsiders in 79’s.” Fives said. “Nan, Rho, and Fiske, stay close in case things go south and we have to move quickly.”

“How do you propose we do this, Fives?” Tallulah asked. “We just… walk up and snag a communicator?”

“Most of ‘em will be so shitfaced they won’t even know what hit ‘em.” Fives replied. “We just have to get close enough to lift it.”

“You know, they used to call me Lightfingers Lockwood.” Nanook chirped. “You sure you don’t want me to come?”

“Who in the nine hells ever called you Lightfingers Lockwood?” Rhokan barked a laugh.

“Some people did! Back before I met you!”

“Nanook, it’s better if you stay back in case we have to get to the ship. You don’t want one of us flying the _Leviathan_ , now do you?” Fives asked.

“No. I guess not.”

“Smart girl.” Fives grinned. “Alright, Tal. Let’s get moving.”

“Right behind you.”

They kept mostly to the shadows, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. They shouldn’t have worried – the Coruscant underworld had its fair share of seedy characters, and they blended in easily. As they walked, Tallulah glanced around at the bars around them, peeking through windows absently.

“They put the clone bar on the lower levels?” She questioned.

“What do you expect?” Fives said bitterly. “Clone entertainment isn’t exactly a senate priority. And it’s not even technically a clone bar. It’s just one of the few places that didn’t turn us away once we got shore leave.”

“People turn you away?”

Fives glanced at her. “Can you blame them?”

Tallulah shrugged. Didn’t meet his eyes. “You’re not too bad.”

Fives smiled, then frowned at something over her shoulder. “What the hell?” he murmured, stepping up to one of the bars. It was full of bounty hunters, and there were holo-screens flashing individuals with bounties on their heads circling the bar. Every screen was filled with the same familiar face.

“Ahsoka?”

“You know her?” Tallulah asked, peering in through the windows with him.

“Commander Tano.” Fives said. “She’s my General’s Padawan. Err, was.” He said, squinting at the screen. “Skrag… she’s wanted for murder.”

“And terrorism. She bombed a temple apparently.” Tallulah read, arching an eyebrow. “You sure there’s any Jedi that are actually good?”

“This can’t be right, Commander Tano would never do something like this.” Fives frowned. He pulled out his commlink. “New plan.” He said to the group, taking a capture image of the bounty profile and sending it to the rest of the Leviathan Crew. “Keep your eyes peeled for this one. Something isn’t right here.”

 _“Friend of yours?”_ Rhokan asked.

“Something like that.”

“Are we not going to 79’s anymore?” Tallulah asked, following along with Fives as he kept walking.

“No, we still are. We need that communicator.”

“But?”

“But I want to see what we can find out about Tano as well.” Fives answered. “If she’s involved in this same mess that I’m in, I want to help her.” He looked at Tallulah. “She’s good, Tal. I promise.”

“If you say so.” Tallulah glanced at Ahsoka’s image one last time before continuing down the street with Fives.

“There it is.” Fives nodded at the bar. “Busier than usual.” He smiled. “Good, easier for us to hide among them.”

 _“Hey Fives, that girl you told us to keep an eye out for? Fiske got into the Republic’s comm chatter, he heard she got picked up in district 1315, at some abandoned warehouse.”_ Nanook reported in. _“Some guy named Wolffe reported it. Said that he just dropped off the girl back at the Jedi Temple.”_

“Well there goes that plan.” Fives muttered. “Anything else?”

_“He said he’s taking leave for the evening. His General approved it. He contacted somebody else that he’s meeting at 79’s but we didn’t catch who.”_

“Blast,” Fives hissed. “Alright, thanks for the update, Nan. Keep us posted.”

“Wolffe was one of the guys from the Labyrinth, right?” Tallulah confirmed.

“Yeah. He’ll recognize me if he spots me. And if he’s in 79’s…” He shook his head. “We’ll have to be careful. Least he’s probably alone, Wolffe’s not the type to spend time with the rest of the _vode,_ unless he’s with his own men. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”

“Got it. What am I looking for, just in case?”

“Got a mug like mine,” Fives chuckled. “Except… except he’s got a scar through his eye, and has a cybernetic replacement. Grey armor.”

Tallulah nodded. “I’ll keep my eyes peeled.”

Fives nodded, and took a deep breath. “Alright. No point in delaying it any further.”

With that, they stepped inside the bar.

Immediately, bright flashing lights and loud music barraged them, and Fives melted seamlessly into the swarm of clones. For Tallulah, it was overwhelming. She was surrounded by over a hundred men all with the same face as the one she’d known for weeks.

She grabbed Fives’ hand, keeping him from wandering off too far. Fives glanced back at her, and squeezed her hand.

He led her across the bar, planting her in a seat and motioning the bartender over.

“Drink.” Fives told her quietly, keeping his mouth close to her ear so he could be heard. “Don’t be suspicious.”

“Easy for you to say.” She looked around the room in bewilderment. “How do you tell each other apart?”

“In a room full of these people, all with the same face, would you be able to pick me out of a crowd?”

“I mean… yeah, probably I guess. Why?”

“How?” Fives pressed.

“Because you’re _you.”_ Tallulah explained, waving her hand dismissively as she picked up her drink. “You walk different, talk different, you’ve got your tattoo, and you – Oh, oh I see what you did.” Tallulah nodded. She could feel Fives smirking at her, even though his mouth was hidden.

“We may share the same face, but we’re all different. Each and every one of us.” He smiled wistfully, glancing around the room. “We’re more than just numbers. We’re men. We -.”

Tallulah took a sip of her drink. It was surprisingly good, and she nodded. “We what?” She prompted. No response. “Fives?”

He wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were glued to something across the bar. Tallulah followed his gaze. “Uh-Oh.”

She spotted a group of men sitting around a circular table. One of them had a tattoo in Aurebesh across his head, and another had a low ponytail. The man with the ponytail was talking quietly to another man sitting just beyond Tallulah’s field of vision. She craned her neck and saw -.

Tallulah understood then what Fives had meant when he said each of them were different. It didn’t matter that they all looked the same. Even in a galaxy full of clone troopers she had never met, Tallulah would recognize Captain Rex.

She looked up at Fives, saw him frozen in place, unable to take his eyes off the men in the corner. She touched his arm, calling him back to himself.

“Shit.” Fives breathed, finally finding his voice. _“Shit!”_ he whipped around quickly facing the bar and taking a shaky breath. “What the kriff? What the kriff is he doing here? What are they doing here?”

“Okay, you need to _relax.”_ Tallulah said, smacking his arm lightly. “They haven’t spotted us, we can -.”

“’scuse me, round of drinks.”

Fives’ eyes blew wide, and he kept his eyes locked on Tallulah. He knew that voice.

Tallulah looked over his shoulder at the trooper ordering drinks behind Fives. His head was shaved, with a big Republic cog tattoo taking up most of his face. He glanced over at Tallulah and gave her a little nod before focusing back on the drinks. Neither she nor Fives could move.

“Hey, isn’t this hot?” Jesse teased lightly, giving the tiniest tug on the back of Fives’ hood. “I swear, they jack up the heat in this place to keep us drinking.”

Fives flinched away, gripping the fabric of his hood tight to keep it from coming loose.

“He ah – he just got off a rough battle.” Tallulah spoke up quickly. “He doesn’t really – he um -.” She floundered for words. “He wanted… he wanted to be around his people, but didn’t want to draw attention. I told him I’d keep him company.” She said sympathetically, touching Fives’ bicep gently. _Stay calm._

Jesse clicked his tongue. “I’m sorry, _vod._ Where were you stationed?”

Fives’ mind was racing. He felt dizzy. “Ryloth.” He managed, voice quiet and shaky.

Jesse, however, mistook his tremble for grief, and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Damn, that bad, eh?” He flagged the bartender down, slid a drink in front of Fives. “This one’s on me, pal. Hang in there.”

He squeezed Fives’ shoulder lightly. “ _Nu kyr'adyc_ ,” He began patiently.

Fives swallowed. _“Shi taab'echaaj'la.”_ He finished.

“That’s it.” Jesse smiled, and clapped Fives gently on the back before walking away. Tallulah let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d even been holding.

“Little gods,” she muttered, scrubbing a hand over her face. Fives took the drink Jesse had bought him and pulled his mask down slightly, quickly downing the entire thing.

“Good thinking.” He told Tallulah once he’d caught his breath. “About the company thing.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Tallulah replied. “What did you say to each other?”

“It’s a recitation, for when we lose someone in battle.” Fives explained. “’Not gone, merely marching far away.’” He put his head in his hands for a moment. “Nine divines… that was too close.”

“Agreed.” Tallulah glanced back at the table where Jesse had sat, and saw he was joined now by the scar faced man Fives had mentioned earlier – Wolffe – leaning against the booth. The look on his face was serious, determined, and he was saying something emphatically. There were seven of them total.

“This is a good thing, right? Rex is right there. Maybe you can find a way to talk to him-.”

“No.” Fives said forcefully. “No, no absolutely not.”

“The whole point of us getting a communicator was so you could find a way to speak to him, right?” Tallulah asked hotly. “He’s _right here!”_

“Exactly, and right now I don’t know how much he knows about what happened, or if he remembers me at all.” Fives hissed. “Just my _being here_ puts every single one of them in danger. _Why_ is he _here?!”_

“Communicating with him over a commlink is just as dangerous, right? Fives, you gotta talk to him-.”

“Stop saying my name.” Fives growled. “And don’t pretend like you understand any of this, what they’ll do to us, to _him,_ if they catch us.”

Tallulah drew back, hurt, and Fives sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He said, and risked a glance over his shoulder. “Mm, fuck.” He muttered, facing the bar again. “Alright. What are they doing?”

Tallulah studied him for a moment, but looked back to the table. “They’re looking at something.” She said. “Rex has some kind of communicator. He’s showing it to them.”

“No.” Fives whispered, looking over his shoulder again. “No, kriff!”

“Why, what’s wrong?”

“He’s showing them the message I left him. Kriff, if one of them tells and the Jedi find out…” Fives looked at Tallulah. “We’ve got to get his communicator.”

“How are you going to contact him if you take his comm?”

“I’ll figure it out. I never should’ve left him that message.” Fives muttered to himself. “We’ve got to get it and destroy it before it ends up in the wrong hands. He won't do it himself.”

Tallulah frowned, but looked back towards the table. “He’s giving it to the guy in orange.”

“That’s Cody.” Fives murmured. “What’s he doing?”

“I don’t know. Messing with it? Looks like he’s hooking it up to his own commlink.”

“Firefek.” Fives swore again. “Let me think.”

Tallulah kept watching the table of clones with interest. The tattooed man who approached them earlier said something to the man sitting across from him, and it looked like a fight was going to break out until Wolffe stepped between them and held the second man back.

“Okay. Alright. See the kid with the ponytail?” Fives asked, glancing at Tallulah but still refusing to turn around.

“Yeah?” Tallulah nodded, glancing back at the booth. The tattooed man and the other soldier had settled back down now, and Wolffe was going back to leaning against the wall.

“His name is Tup. Ask him to dance. When you lean across the table to talk to him, see if you can lift the comm from Cody without him noticing.”

“Are you joking?” Tallulah asked. “You want me to just walk up to all seven of them and ask the kid to dance?”

“You have to. He’s the only one out of them we may have a shot at.”

“What about _literally anyone else here?”_

“Tallulah.” Fives’ voice was begging. “We have to get that commlink.”

Tallulah looked away.

“Don’t give me that look.” She muttered. “Fine, I’ll -.” She frowned, looking back towards the table.

Wolffe was looking directly at them.

“Fives. Don’t turn around.” Tallulah murmured. Fives went rigid, straightening up slowly but not turning.

“What is it?”

Tallulah and Wolffe didn’t break eye contact. For what felt like ages, the two of them stared each other down.

Then, Wolffe turned away, back to the group, and Tallulah sighed in relief.

“Okay, I think we’re okay.”

A clone scooted by in front of her, blocking her field of vision temporarily. When he moved, the table was empty.

“Oh kriff.” She muttered. “Go. Now.”

She reached for her communicator to signal Nanook, only for someone to grab her wrist, keeping her pinned to the table as she felt the barrel of a blaster against her ribs.

“Hey there, darlin’.” Wolffe smiled down at her, though there was nothing kind about it. “You like what you see?”

The trooper in orange, Cody, slid up on her other side, blocking her from speaking to Fives, though she could see Jesse and the trooper he’d been fighting with boxing Fives in. Rex and Tup were nowhere to be seen. Yet.

“Can’t say that I do, actually.” Tallulah replied, squaring back her shoulders and looking up at Wolffe.

“Really?” Wolffe tilted his head to the side. “Because you sure couldn’t seem to keep your eyes off us earlier.”

Tallulah looked past Wolffe, and saw Rex lingering near the back doors of the bar, blocking the exit. He was flanked by Tup and the man with the Aurebesh tattoo around his head.

She glanced back at Cody. Spotted the communicator on his wrist.

“Well what can I say, I like a man in uniform.” Tallulah answered dryly, looking back at Wolffe.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” Cody asked from her other side.

“Yeah, and who’s your quiet friend here?” Jesse asked, reaching for Fives’ hood. “Sounded like a _vod,_ but you sure are trying to hide your face, aren’t you-?”

Fives sighed softly. “Sorry, Jesse.”

In the blink of an eye, Fives had punched Jesse in the face hard enough to knock him backwards, and he’d thrown the other trooper over the bar. Tallulah used Wolffe and Cody’s momentary surprise to elbow Wolffe, springing away from both of them and taking off after Fives.

“Oh no you don’t!” Cody grabbed her, flipping her around and pinning her down against the bar. She kicked at his knees, swinging her arm back around and swiping him across the face. Finally, he let go of her, and she sprang away, bounding towards Fives.

“They’re going up the stairs, after them!” One of them shouted behind them.

“You’re going to box us in!” Tallulah shouted.

Fives ignored her, ducking into one of the upstairs rooms and keying in the lock code behind him.

“Now what?” Tallulah asked. They could hear the clones hurrying to override the lock on the outside.

“Out the window.” Fives ordered. “Call Nan, we need a distraction. We’ve got to get that commlink back.”

“Oh, you mean this one?” Tallulah asked, holding it up with a little grin. Fives shook his head at her, grinning.

“What would I do without you?”

Tallulah smiled, but it quickly faded. “They’re getting in, we’ve gotta move.”

“Right. Take it and get back to the ship with the others.”

“And what are you going to do?”

Fives grinned.

“Distract them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fives: Oh don't worry Fiske Rex won't be there :)  
> Fives, absolutely losing his shit moments later: WHOOPS HEY HE'S IN THERE
> 
> Sigh. So close and yet so far.


	12. A Chase in Two Parts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance.

_The Leviathan Crew Vs. The Clones_

“Get this door open now!”

“I’m going as fast as I can, sir!”

“Rex,” Cody stepped up quickly to where the rest of the clones were gathered in front of the locked door. “The little wench got the commlink.”

“We can’t let them get away. They must’ve been sent here to get the commlink and destroy the evidence of Fives.” Rex said firmly. “Jesse?”

“Almost got it.” Jesse replied, still working on the door.

“Bly, Wolffe, circle around back in case they went out the window.”

“On it.” Wolffe muttered, taking off with Bly on his heels.

“The girl took the commlink off Cody.” Rex told his men. “Go after her. Catch the other one if you can.”

“Nanook, it’s go time.” Tallulah said into her commlink, breaking the window and kicking out the glass, climbing out onto the edge.

_“We’re just around the corner. We’ll meet in the middle.”_

“Make it fast, I’ve got a tail.” Tallulah threw a look over her shoulder right as the door opened, and in burst three clones, guns drawn. She grinned, gave them a little mock-salute, and jumped out the window.

“She’s running!” Jesse shouted, spinning back around to go down the stairs.

“Not so fast.” Wolffe and Bly blocked Tallulah as she shimmied down the side of the building.

“Just give us the commlink back, nobody has to get hurt.” Bly commanded, holding out his hand.

“Oh, but I think you do.”

Wolffe registered the voice and managed to duck before Rhokan could grab him from behind, but Bly wasn’t so lucky. Rhokan had lifted Bly off his feet and thrown him into the alley wall before anyone could say another word.

“Who the hell is this?!” Wolffe shouted, springing back up to his feet.

“Commander, _down!”_ Tup shouted behind him, firing on Rhokan and Tallulah as Wolffe dropped out of the way again.

“Skrag, they’re shooting at us!” Tallulah cried, grabbing Rhokan by the arm and pulling him after him.

“Can’t we shoot back?” Rhokan growled, following Tallulah.

“I’ve got the girl in my sights, she’s with a Zygerrian. They’re heading North.” Tup said into his commlink. “Wolffe and I are on their tails.”

“I’ve got Bly.” Kix said, hurrying over to Bly and helping the dazed commander to his feet.

“’M fine, I’m fine!” Bly pushed him off, shaking himself loose again. “Come on, after them!”

“Here, take this and go left, I’ll flank right.” Tallulah snapped, shoving the commlink into Rhokan’s hands.

“What am I supposed to -.”

“Just don’t let them get it back!”

Blaster fire whizzed over their heads, and Tallulah ducked again. “Oh, Fives owes us _so big_ for this!”

“If I get shot, I’m gonna kill him.” Rhokan growled back. “Nanook!?”

“Up here!”

Nanook waved them down from where she stood on top of a building. Fiske was kneeling beside her, his rifle trained on the pursuing clones.

“Don’t shoot to kill, Fiske!” Tallulah shouted up to him. “Do _not_ kill them!”

“Excuse me?!” Rhokan roared, ducking around another bit of blaster fire. “They are very clearly trying to kill us!”

“Split!”

Rhokan ran to the left as Tallulah branched off to the right. She heard the familiar sound of Fiske’s rifle going off behind her. She threw a glance over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed, then stopped against a wall, catching her breath. She pressed herself as close to the building as she could, watching as the clones charged past the alleyway. One paused, looking down the alley for a moment before continuing on.

Tallulah sighed in relief, her knees buckling slightly.

“Fives, where are you?” She asked into her communicator, still panting.

 _“Bit busy right now!”_ Fives shouted back, the sound of blaster fire echoing around him.

“Sithspit, did they go after you?” She asked worriedly. “I thought the whole point was to -.”

_“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got this under control. Just get the others to safety. I’m counting on you!”_

Tallulah nodded, squeezing her hands into fists. She took a deep breath, creeping around the corner and checking to make sure the coast was clear -.

And then she felt the barrel of a blaster press against the back of her head.

“Don’t move.” Tup commanded quietly, taking her by the bicep. “I don’t want to harm you.”

“We aren’t who you think we are.” Tallulah said calmly. “We’re trying to help. We’re the good guys.”

“Oh yeah?” Tup asked. “Then why were you watching us? Why did you steal the Captain’s commlink?” He pressed the blaster a little harder into her head. “What do you know?”

Tallulah closed her eyes. She could practically hear Fives in her head, begging her not to tell them he was alive. _“It will put them in danger if they know the truth.”_

“My name is Tallulah Chia.” She began quietly, glancing at Tup out of the corner of her eye. “I know Fives. He’s alive.”

~

Rhokan climbed up to the roof, the clones hot on his tail.

“Where’s Tallulah?” Nanook asked quickly, helping pull him to safety. Around them, it had started to rain.

“We split up. Here kiddo, take this and get your ass back on the ship as fast as you can.” Rhokan pushed the communicator into her hands.

“What? No way! I’m gonna help!”

“This isn’t a game, Nan, they’re shooting at us.” Rhokan looked up at Fiske. “We can slow them down a bit. Tal doesn’t want us to kill them -.”

“They’re on the roof!”

“After them!”

“I really hate these guys.” Rhokan muttered. He grabbed Nanook despite her protests, carrying her like a sack of potatoes and sprinting across the roof with Fiske on their heels.

“Stop them!” Wolffe shouted, leading the chase against the Leviathan Crew.

“We’re going to have to split up again.” Fiske said quickly. “They can’t catch all of us.”

The rain was picking up, and Rhokan had to shout to be heard over the oncoming storm.

“Right. Hang on, Nan.” Rhokan ordered, grabbing the side of a building and sliding off the roof, landing with a rough grunt on the ground below.

“We have to get back to the upper levels to get to the ship.” Nanook said.

“Then get up there and get the ship ready. We’ll meet you there as soon as we can.” Rhokan said, shielding his eyes from the rain. “Go!”

Nanook looked like she wanted to protest again, but she took off in the opposite direction as Fiske and Rhokan split off another way.

“Circle around, we can flank them from behind.” Rhokan told Fiske, and the pair split off once again.

“Where’d they go?” Kix asked, panting. “Skrag, did they get away?”

“The girl went this way, towards the warehouse district.” Wolffe said, nodding in the direction Nanook had gone. “She’s the one with the commlink, I saw them switch off. Leave those two for now. The kid’s got nowhere to run.”

“Where’s Tup, he was right behind us.” Bly said, looking around.

“He split off after the Zabrak woman.” Kix replied. “C’mon, we’ve got to move quick. We’ll lose them in the rain.”

The three of them took off together in the direction Nanook had ran.

“Commander Cody, we’ve got the Nautolan cornered. She’s in possession of the commlink.” Wolffe said into his communicator. The rain pounded on the crates around them, causing a noisy reverb.

_“Take her into custody, along with any of the others you can pick up.”_

The three soldiers entered the warehouse district, and Wolffe immediately spotted Nanook climbing up the sides of crates as fast as she could. She saw them coming up behind her, and tried to move faster, only to lose her footing and fall back down in front of the crates.

Nanook scooted backwards quickly, back pressed against the crates. She looked terrified.

“Wolffe, she’s a kid. Can’t be much older than Commander Tano, if even that.” Kix murmured.

“Yeah, and we all saw what she was capable of.” Wolffe muttered. “Saw her running around with that Sith Ventress just a few hours before I met up with the rest of you.” He pointed his blaster at Nanook. “Hand. Over. The communicator.”

Nanook swallowed. “I don’t have it.”

“Bantha shit, we saw you switch with the Zygerrian.”

Nanook frowned, but reluctantly lifted her hands in the air, one of them clutching the commlink.

“Cuff her.” Wolffe ordered, and Bly stepped forward, taking the commlink and passing it to Wolffe before putting a pair of binders around Nanook’s wrists.

Wolffe looked over the commlink, then cursed. “You little minx.” He growled, glaring at Nanook. “What the hell is this?”

She smirked.

“You know what they used to call me?” She asked. “Lightfingers Lockwood.”

In the blink of an eye, the binders were off Nanook and instead around Bly’s wrists.

“What the -.”

Nanook shot up the sides of the shipping crates faster than a puff of air, and in an instant, was gone.

“Skrag!!” Wolffe shouted, kicking the side of the crate as Kix went to free Bly.

“What the hell just happened?” Bly asked in bewilderment, looking down at his own wrists. Wolffe got back on his communicator.

“The Nautolan got away. So did the Zygerrian.There was another man with them but we didn’t get a good look. Tall, black cloak, had a rifle.” He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face.

“The commlink was a decoy. It isn’t one of ours. Whoever that guy was in 79’s, he’s got the real one.”

~

_Rex Vs. Fives_

“Nanook, it’s go time.” Tallulah said into her commlink, breaking the window and kicking out the glass, climbing out onto the edge.

_“We’re just around the corner. We’ll meet in the middle.”_

“Make it fast, I’ve got a tail.” Tallulah threw a look over her shoulder right as the door opened, and in burst three clones, guns drawn. She grinned, gave them a little mock-salute, and jumped out the window.

“She’s running!” Jesse shouted, spinning back around to go down the stairs.

Fives waited until the thundering footsteps left, and shimmied out from where he’d hidden under the bed. Thank Force for the private rooms above 79’s. He flipped the commlink in his hands and grinned to himself, backtracking down the stairs and out the front door. Now all he had to do was get back to the ship.

_Duck._

It was instinctual, like some inner voice had called out to him and warned him, but Fives ducked just in time to see a blaster bolt cut through the area where his head had been moments ago.

“Stun, Jesse, I want him alive!” Rex commanded. “Cody, with us!”

“Skrag.” Fives bolted down the street in the opposite direction with Rex, Cody, and Jesse hot on his heels. They continued firing at him, a mixture of stun rounds and live blasts, one of the live ones just barely grazing Fives’ hood but missing his head.

_“Fives, where are you?”_

“Bit busy right now!” Fives shouted into his communicator, taking a sharp left turn and almost losing his footing.

 _“Sithspit, did they go after you?”_ Tallulah asked worriedly. _“I thought the whole point was to -.”_

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got this under control. Just get the others to safety. I’m counting on you!” Fives said, looking around for another option. He spotted a hangar, and darted inside, panicked for a beat as he looked around for a speeder or small cab he could steal.

“Come on, come on.” He muttered. A pair of Coruscant guard blocked the main exit, looking at him in surprise. “Kriffin’ hell, gimme a _break!”_

“There he is!” Cody’s voice echoed behind him.

“Close the blast doors!” Rex commanded.

Fives sprinted forward, running towards the blast doors even as they were shutting.

“Stop running!” Cody called.

“I’m trying to keep you alive!” Fives shouted back.

“He sounds like a _vod.”_ Cody said, surprised.

“We’ve got him, he won’t make it before the doors close!” Jesse said, ignoring Cody and drawing his blaster.

Fives picked up speed, and _lunged_ at the door, clearing the opening easily.

“What the _kriff?!”_ Jesse shouted. “He can’t be one of us. No human can move that fast!”

Jesse and Cody started to slow as the blast doors almost touched the ground, but Rex sped up.

“Rex – Rex! You’ll be cut in half, _REX!”_

Rex ignored Cody’s protests and slid under the blast doors just moments before they closed. On the other side, Rex popped to his feet, taking off once again after the hooded man, after Fives.

“Kriff, we’ll have to go around.” Jesse said, banging his fist on the blast doors in frustration.

 _“I’ve got the girl in my sights, she’s with a Zygerrian. They’re heading North.”_ Tup’s voice echoed over their commlinks. _“Wolffe and I are on their tails.”_

“Come on, we can’t let Rex take him alone.” Cody said.

Rex charged ahead after Fives, teeth grit, laser focused. Around them, it had started to rain. Despite this, Rex didn’t slow down. Didn’t hesitate.

_“Listen to me, this is almost over.”_

“Not now, dammit.” Rex snarled to himself, focusing on the man in front of him.

_“I swear to you, all of this is almost over. It’s nothing more than a bad dream. It’s just a nightmare, like the ones from our dreams.”_

_“Like the ones from our dreams,” Fives mumbled._

_“Yeah, cyare.” Rex nodded. “It’s just a bad dream, and we’re almost through it.” He pressed his forehead against Fives’. Cupped his cheeks. Wiped his tears with his thumbs._

_He knew this room. Remembered something. Remembered a flower. So many good men had died there. They were the only ones left. Where was it? Why couldn’t he remember?_

_“I swear to you,” He murmured. “If it’s the last thing I do, you’re getting out of here, Fives. I promise.”_

“NO!” Rex shouted, forcing the ghost of memories away. Kriff. He’d lost track of the hooded man. He wiped the rain from his eyes, squinting through the increasing onslaught.

“Rex!” Jesse shouted to his left. “Over here! He’s heading for the upper levels!”

Rex followed his Lieutenant’s gaze, and sure enough, the hooded man was scaling the side of a building, clinging desperately to a maintenance ladder as the wind picked up and the rain battered him. His hood was whipping around him, and Rex caught a glimpse of thick, dark hair and a beard.

“Go around!” Rex shouted over the rain. “Get up to the rooftops, cut him off! I’ll follow him!”

“Be careful!” Cody hollered back, but took Jesse with him to the opposite side of the street while Rex rushed into the building.

 _“Commander Cody, we’ve got the Nautolan cornered. She’s in possession of the commlink.”_ Wolffe said into his communicator.

“Take her into custody, along with any of the others you can pick up.” Cody said back.

“Should we go to the next building over, try to outflank him?” Jesse asked.

“No.” Cody said, shaking his head. “No, I’ve got a better idea. Follow me.”

Rex spotted the turbo lift right away, and ran over to it, only to stop himself before getting on.

_“I love you.” Fives whispered. “Don’t make me – Just get on the elevator. Please.”_

Rex shook the memory away, instead drawing both his blasters and getting on the lift, pushing the button for the rooftop with so much force that for half a moment he was worried he’d broken it.

_Rex surged forward, kissing Fives, his chapped and burned lips hot against Fives’ soft ones._

_Fives jolted, surprised, and was caught off guard just long enough for Rex to plant his hands on Fives’ chest and shove him backwards into the elevator. The glass doors slammed shut, sealing Fives inside and Rex outside._

Rex flinched again, putting one hand over his temple. “Get out of my head.” He growled under his breath, shaking himself loose again.

 _“The Nautolan got away. So did the Zygerrian. There was another man with them but we didn’t get a good look. Tall, black cloak, had a rifle.”_ Wolffe reported in. _“The commlink was a decoy. It isn’t one of ours. Whoever that guy was in 79’s, he’s got the real one.”_

“Don’t worry.” Rex growled into his wrist com. “I’ve got him.”

_“Rex!” Fives shouted, scrambling to his feet and banging on the glass. “Rex! NO! REX!!! OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!!”_

_Rex pressed his palm to the glass as the lift started to rise._

_“I love you too.”_

He cocked his blasters. _If these bastards want to find Fives…_

He stepped out of the lift, onto the roof, faced the ledge.

_They’ll have to go through me first._

At last, Fives hauled himself up over the edge of the building. He panted, shaking his wet hair out of his eyes and quickly fixing the mask and hood back up around his face where it belonged. Thunder boomed overhead, deafening, and Fives flinched, pushing himself shakily up onto his knees.

Lightning flashed, illuminating Rex standing in front of him, blaster trained between Fives’ eyes. 

“It’s over.” Rex said, keeping the gun leveled on Fives. “Who are you? And who sent you after us?” He pushed the blaster right up against Fives’ forehead. “Answer me, and maybe I’ll let you live.”

Fives took a slow breath, lifted his hands slowly.

 _“Rex!”_ Tup’s voice was urgent. _“Sir, where are you? I need to talk to you right away. Listen, if you find the guy, don’t hurt him! It’s -.”_

Rex ripped off his communicator, smashing it under his boot and returning the blaster to Fives’ temple.

“I know what you’re after!” Rex shouted. “You want Fives, don’t you?! You want to track him down, kill him for what he knows?!” He jabbed the gun into Fives’ head. “Or did you already kill him?! Is he dead?! _Did you fucking kill him?!”_

“Rex,” Fives said softly, his voice catching slightly in his throat. “Rex, let me explain -.”

“You’re one of us, I can hear it in your voice.” Rex hissed, cutting him off. “Who put you up to this? Are you one of the Bad Batch, sent to round us up again? _Take off the karkin’ mask!”_ Rex roared, the thunder booming overhead again.

Fives kept his hands raised, but slowly moved them to his head. He pushed his hood back, slowly pulled his mask down.

“Rex.” He said softly. “Rex… It’s _me.”_

Rex’s hands shook, and Fives gently cupped his own hands around Rex’s, stilling the blaster and lowering it gently. “It’s me.” He repeated. “I’m here. It’s _me.”_

Rex’s entire form was trembling, and Fives pushed the gun aside, pulling Rex down to his knees and into Fives’ arms. “F-Fives?”

“Yeah, _cyare.”_ Fives grinned, tears stinging his eyes. “’m right here.”

Rex was still in his arms, until he pulled back abruptly, cupping Fives’ cheeks. He studied him, like he was trying to determine if this was real or not. “You’re – you -.” He struggled to find the words. “What is – kriff, your _hair.”_ Rex said, appalled.

Fives laughed, tears mixing with the rain as Rex shoved his hair aside to get a look at the 5 tattoo on his temple, to make sure it was really him. “That’s all you have to say?” He asked, swiping at his eyes.

“It’s you… it’s really you.” Rex breathed. Then he grit his teeth and wrapped his hands around Fives’ throat, pinning him down and throttling him.

“You let me believe you were dead for _three karkin’ months!”_ He screamed. “And you were _right here_ this _whole kriffin’ time?!”_

“I was trying to keep you safe!” Fives shouted, kicking Rex to get him off. Rex just got right back on him, trying to punch him. “Kriff, Rex, calm down!”

“You left! You never tried to contact me! I couldn’t remember anything, I had no idea what had happened to you!” Rex threw another punch, but it was half-hearted, and Fives pinned him down easily.

Across from them, on the opposite building, Jesse and Cody were on the rooftop, watching them grapple.

“Kriff, they’re fighting.” Jesse hissed worriedly. “Commander, he’s gonna kill Rex.”

“I don’t have a clear shot.” Cody growled, squinting through the scopes. “With all the rain, I can’t tell who’s who, I don’t want to accidentally hit Rex.”

“He’s going to _kill him,_ Cody.”

“Almost got it.”

“I couldn’t contact you even if I wanted to!” Fives protested, wrestling Rex to the ground and pinning him down. “You don’t understand what we went through because you can’t remember! I didn’t even know if you’d remember me! I didn’t know what was safe or if you were even still alive -.”

“I thought you were dead!”

“I left you a message, I tried to tell you-.”

Rex flipped them over again, knocking the wind out of Fives as Rex pinned him, elbow against his throat. _“I thought you were dead!”_

Fives stared up at Rex, watched the tears stream down his cheeks, mixed with the rain. Watched as Rex’s face crumpled, and he crashed his lips against Fives, moving his arms instead so he could cup Fives’ face with both hands.

When they broke apart, both of them had tears running down their cheeks.

“I’m not -.” Rex cleared his throat. “I’m not finished yelling at you.”

“I don’t care.” Fives grabbed his Captain again, and kissed him deeply.

“Listen.” He said, pulling back. “I don’t have time to explain everything, but I can’t stay here.”

“The kriff is that supposed to mean?” Rex demanded, regaining his composure.

“Can you see anything?” Cody asked, pulling the scopes away from his eyes. “I can’t make a damn thing out in all this rain.”

“No, they’re too far to tell.” Jesse muttered. “I think they’re still fighting.”

 _“Jesse!”_ Tup cried. His voice was garbled slightly on the other end of the communicator, the rain jumbling the frequency. _“Jesse, where -? Girl – warned you – don’t – him!”_

“What?” Jesse said. “I can’t hear you.” He moved away from Cody, taking shelter under the doorway to the lift. “What’s going on?”

“Rex, you don’t understand -.”

“Then _make me_ understand.” Rex snapped. “If you think I’m going to just let you walk away again -.”

“I’ll come back.” Fives swore. “I’ll always come back, but until we know the truth, even knowing that I’m still alive puts you in danger.”

“How? Explain it to me.” Rex demanded.

“I don’t know how high up it goes, Rex. I just – I’m so sorry, I promise, I’ll make things right when I can.” He held up the commlink. “I’ll use this to get in touch with you again.” He stood up. “I promise.”

 _“Do not fire on the man in the mask.”_ Tup said breathlessly. He sounded like he was in a lift. _“We’re almost to your location. Whatever you do, don’t fire on the man in the mask.”_

“Why not?” Jesse asked.

“I’m not letting you walk away.” Rex said. He snatched his gun back up just as Fives drew his own, and the two men pointed it at each other.

“You have to let me go, Rex.”

“You’re not going _anywhere.”_

Cody looked through the scopes again. Saw Rex on his knees. Saw the man taking aim at Rex. Aimed.

Tup hesitated, like he was afraid to say it over the Republic frequency, but he was cut off by a woman’s voice.

_“Damn you all, he’s your own man! It’s Fives, don’t shoot him!”_

“What?” Jesse looked back towards Cody. Watched him take aim.

“Cody! Cody, _wait!”_

If one had asked Fives what made him turn towards the other building in that moment, he wouldn’t be able to explain it. Whether it was being bred for war that made him sense the blaster trained on him, or if it was that he somehow sensed Tallulah running onto the rooftop with Tup, pushing past Jesse and running towards Cody to stop him. Or perhaps there was something more, something long-dormant and waiting in Fives that had suddenly woken up, something that led him to this roof, in this moment, standing across from his Captain, with a gun in his hand. Whatever the reason, Fives turned, exposing his chest directly into the line of fire.

And Commander Cody pulled the trigger.

He felt the blaster bolt crash through his chest. Felt it rip a hole through his shoulder blade. Felt his knees buckle. Heard someone scream. Rex? Tallulah? He wasn’t sure. Back hit the ground, head hit the ground. Black spots swarmed in his vision. Rex’s face over him. Rex’s eyes. Rex. _Rex._ The rain stung his eyes. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t _breathe._

He felt… warm, oddly. Looking up at Rex. Seeing his face again. This wasn’t so bad. This wasn’t the worst way to die. Looking into the eyes of someone you love, that’s not so bad.

This isn’t as scary as he thought it would be.

“Got him.” Cody said, pulling back from his rifle.

“What have you done?” Tallulah whispered, her hands over her mouth. “What have you _done?!”_

Tup lifted his wrist com to his lips with a shaky hand.

Across the city, aboard the _Leviathan,_ Nanook, Rhokan, and Fiske listened in.

_“Kix… Kix, we need you. There’s been a – Fives is shot. Fives is down.”_

A pause. Still as death.

_“Nine hells, Kix. I think he’s dead.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	13. Dream Walker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short update today, because the last chapter was almost three times the length of what I usually post, haha. 
> 
> Thank you once again for all your comments and feedback on the chapters so far! I love reading them (Especially after last night's update).

Obi-Wan Kenobi steeped his tea quietly, the silence of his quarters deafening, now more than ever. There was a time once when Cody would’ve been piddling around the room with him, either making tea himself or just… existing, being in the same space as Obi-Wan. The quiet, peaceful silence with Cody used to bring him so much joy, a sense of peace in an otherwise loud and chaotic war. Now, the silence was his enemy, and it made his heart ache.

Thunder rocked the space, and Obi-Wan looked forlornly back towards his bed. He remembered during bad storms of the past, when Cody’s arms would tighten around him just slightly as the weather picked up. Obi-Wan hated how empty the bed seemed now. Even the thunder seemed to have lost some of its noise, cursing Obi-Wan to the silence in all the spaces Cody should have occupied.

Which is why he jolted at the sudden loud banging on the door to his quarters. He upset his teacup in the process, splashing a bit of tea out onto the back of his hand. He hissed softly, wiping it dry before rising to his feet.

“Yes, yes, I’m coming.” He called. When he opened the door, his heart skipped a beat. “Cody. What – what are you doing here? What’s wrong?”

His commander was panting, soaking wet, an expression on his face that Obi-Wan had rarely ever seen. An unholy mixture of wild-eyed fear and sheer, raw determination.

“You want to make things up to me?” He asked sharply, catching his breath slightly. He was dripping all over the floor.

“Yes. Yes of course I do.” Obi-Wan replied. “Cody, you’re _freezing -.”_

“Then come with me. You can’t say a word about this to anyone.” He added. Swallowed. “Just – I need you. I need your help. Please.”

Obi-Wan didn’t hesitate. “Lead the way.”

~

_“Stay with me Fives!”_

He was dreaming. He had to be dreaming. He was standing on the roof, but away from Rex, away from himself. Everything around him was silent. The rain was still falling, thunder booming, but he couldn’t hear it – couldn’t feel it. He looked down at his hands, flexed them slowly.

“Fives?”

He looked up. Ahsoka Tano was standing in front of him. She was half-hidden in a cloak, and she looked... _worn._

“Commander Tano.” Fives said. He tried to walk towards her, but found he couldn’t move. “I don’t – I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either. How are you doing this?” She asked. Looked around. “Can you see where I am? My surroundings? I can’t see yours.”

“No, sir.” Fives shook his head. “It’s like – like you’re standing right in front of me.”

Ahsoka tilted her head to the side.

_“Stay with me, Fives. Don’t go!”_

“I think…” Fives murmured. “I think I might be dying, sir.”

“You’re… you’re projecting yourself.” Ahsoka said. “Dream-walking, my Master called it. When a Jedi is dying, they enter this sort of halfway meditative state. Not quite of body, but not quite yet in the Living Force. I’ve heard stories about it, from the Temple, but I’ve never -.” She shook her head in bewilderment. “How are you _doing_ that?”

“I don’t even know what it is I’m doing, sir.” Fives protested, looking around again. It was like everything around him was moving in slow motion. He could see Kix, flanked by Bly and Wolffe, running onto the roof. Kix kneeling beside Rex. Wolffe pulling Rex back while Kix leaned over – over Fives.

“That’s me.” Fives muttered. “Can you see that?”

Ahsoka shook her head. “I just see you. I don’t know how long this will last for us, but we need to talk. In person.” She glanced behind her at something Fives couldn’t see. “I’m in the underworld on Coruscant. I’m taking shelter there. Meet me as soon as you can.”

“But – But commander, I don’t know what’s happening, I can’t -.”

“Trust yourself, Fives.” Ahsoka said. “And trust in the Force.” She smiled. “You’re stronger than you know.”

_“Fives!”_

He gasped, his breath choking off halfway through as he sputtered, a bit of blood spattering his lips and mixing with the rain. He tried to close his eyes again, the rain like bullets against his skin.

Kriff, he’d been _shot._

“Hey, hey, stay with me, _vod._ ” Kix said over him, ripping his shirt open so he could get to the wound. “Bly, give me some cover!”

The Commander stood over Fives and Kix, trying to shield them from the rain.

“I don’t have my supplies with me.” Kix growled, inspecting the wound. “I can’t treat him like this. Not here.”

“We can’t take him back to base.” Bly said, looking him over. “The police droids and Coruscant Guard will be here before too long, we can’t stay here either.”

“I know that, Bly!”

“What have you _done?!_ ” Tallulah screamed.

“He was pointing a gun at Rex, I didn’t know!” Cody shouted back, dropping his rifle like it was a snake. “I didn’t know it was Fives!”

“We have to get over there.” Jesse said firmly. “We’ve got to help him, he may still be alive.”

“Nanook -.” Tallulah began, already running back to the lift, her wrist com up to her lips.

_“We heard, is he…?”_

“I don’t know. Get the medkits from the Leviathan and meet us at these coordinates as soon as you can.” Tallulah said, sliding into the lift with the rest of the clones. She wiped the rain away from her eyes – rain? Tears? She wasn’t sure – and cleared her throat.

“If he dies,” She began, looking at Cody. “I won’t stop until I’ve killed you too.”

Cody’s jaw set, and he looked straight ahead. When the lift doors opened, he was the first one out, sprinting in the opposite direction.

“Where are you going?” Tup shouted, pausing while the rest of them ran towards the building where Fives was shot.

“I’m getting help!” Cody called back. “He’ll die up there!”

“We can’t call for help over the coms, it’s bad enough we said it was Fives.” Jesse said, getting onto the other lift.

“Someone’s coming with medical supplies?” Tup asked her.

“We don’t have much on our ship, but it’s better than nothing.” Tallulah replied.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Jesse asked, glaring at Tallulah.

“She’s been helping Fives, back off.” Tup snapped, stepping in front of Tallulah halfway defensively. “She was the one who warned us.”

“A beat too late, it seems.” Jesse muttered.

“Rex, REX!” Wolffe shouted, keeping the Captain pinned against his chest as he dragged him back away from where Kix was trying to revive Fives. “Hey, hey, let him work. Let Kix do his work. Focus on me. On me, Rex, c’mon.”

“Who shot him?” Rex asked, his voice shaky and raw from shouting. “Who shot him? Who’s after him?”

“Nobody, it was an accident.” Wolffe whispered. “He didn’t know, it was an accident.”

"What about 79's? We can hide him in the upper rooms?" 

"He'll die before we can get real equipment there. He needs medical supplies, _and_ a safe place to lay low." Kix replied.

"Any civvies that would help us?" Bly tried again. 

"If you think of one, let me know." Kix muttered, looking around. “Rex, where’s Rex? Captain! Do you carry the bacta on you? For your hands?”

Rex nodded, fishing it from his pocket. Wolffe snatched it from his hands and tossed it to Kix, keeping Rex held back.

“Easy.” Wolffe soothed, sitting down on the ground with Rex and holding the Captain close. “He’ll be alright, Kix has him.”

“Kix, that’s a tiny tube of bacta, that won’t fix a kriffin’ gunshot wound.” Bly whispered.

“Don’t you think I know that?” Kix hissed. “It’s better than nothing, and I’ve got nothing else to help him right now. At least it’ll ease a bit of his pain.” He grit his teeth. “We’re going to have to sit him up, if I can get this on the exit wound then at least we can close the wound up.”

“Is it safe to move him?”

“We don’t have a choice!”

Kix looked at Fives, smacked his cheek gently to keep his eyes open. “I’m not gonna let you die, Fives. I swear to it.”

“How can I help?” Jesse asked as Tallulah dropped to her knees beside Fives.

“I need to cover the kriffin’ hole in his chest. Take your shirt off.”

“My shirt -.”

“Take it off!”

“Yes sir, sorry sir.” Jesse nodded, swallowing and working his soaking wet greys off as fast as he could, left in just the lower half of his armor.

“You getting shot wasn’t part of the plan, idiot.” Tallulah said, smiling and sniffling slightly at Fives. “You better not die.”

“Kix? What can I do?” Tup asked worriedly.

“Check on Rex. Where’s Cody?” He asked.

“He – he went to get help.”

Kix looked up at Tup. “Is he the one who-?”

Tup nodded, then pressed a finger over his lips. _Don’t tell Rex._

“Kriff.” Kix muttered. “No goddamn patience between any of you, trigger-happy karkin’ di’kuts, how’d you make it to Commanders anyway?” He mumbled to himself, focusing back on Fives.

A ship began to land beside them, and Kix flung himself over Fives, keeping him steady as the wind whipped around them.

“Call them off!” He shouted over the roar of the engine. “Call them back!”

“Nanook!” Tallulah shouted into her communicator. “Pull back! Send Rho down with -.”

The ship’s platform dropped, and Fiske slid down, dropping gracefully onto the roof as the ship pulled back. In his arms were what few medical supplies they had on board the _Leviathan._

"Thanks." Kix said, fishing out a syringe full of downers and jabbing it into Fives' neck. "This'll slow his heart rate, keep him from bleeding out." 

“We’ve gotta move him, there’s no kriffin’ way people didn’t notice that.” Bly insisted.

“Move him _where?!”_ Tup demanded. “There’s nowhere we can take him where he’ll be safe.”

“Yes there is.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi strode up to the group, his cloak concealing most of his face and features, Cody behind him.

“If we can get him downstairs, we can take him back to the Temple. He can hide in my quarters.” Obi-Wan promised. “We can get him medical attention there.”

Rex looked up at Cody, utterly betrayed. “You told him?”

“He’ll die if we don’t help him.” Cody said back, focusing back on Fives. “Kix, help me carry him.”

“Quickly, before we’re spotted.” Obi-Wan urged. He touched Cody’s arm briefly before looking over Fives, placing a hand over the wound in his chest. “Don’t worry. You’re safe now.”

Tallulah stood, wrapping her arms around herself and watching the clones file towards the lift after the Jedi.

“Come with us.” Tup said, offering his hand to her. “You’ve more than earned your place beside him. I think he needs you.”

Tallulah smiled weakly at him, and glanced at Rex over her shoulder.

The Captain was watching her.

They both looked away when they met each other's eyes, and Tup led Tallulah to the lift as Wolffe pulled Rex to his feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See he's fine we're fine everything is fine. For now.


	14. A Bedside Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the love so far! We've already got over a thousand hits, I can't thank you guys enough.

“How is he?”

“Better.” Cody nodded, standing beside Obi-Wan as they looked into the bedroom together. Fives was in Obi-Wan’s bed, redressed in one of Obi-Wan’s old tunics. He had a mask over his nose and mouth, helping him breathe, his tunic open to expose a thick bandage over his bare chest. His eyes were closed, but his face was peaceful, and Rex sat beside the bed, Fives’ hand in his, knuckles against his lips.

“He hasn’t woken up yet, but Kix thinks he’s going to be okay.” Cody said quietly. “Missed his heart by just a fraction of an inch. Kix said it was some kind of miracle it missed anything important, let alone his heart.”

Cody shook his head, watching as Rex kissed Fives’ knuckles again. “I almost killed him.”

“You didn’t know.”

“I was aiming for his shoulder. I never thought he’d turn around.” Cody continued over Obi-Wan. “He looked… _right_ at me. Like he _knew_ I was there.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. He looked so tired. “It’s like he sensed it.”

“Cody, you were trying to defend Rex. You didn’t know who he was.” Obi-Wan soothed.

Cody didn’t answer, and instead changed the subject. “How long do you think we can keep him hidden here?”

“As long as he needs. You were the only one to ever come in here anyway.” Obi-Wan replied, glancing up at Cody. The Commander didn’t react – at least, not in a way Obi-Wan could see. “How are the others handling things?”

“I think they’re alright. Bly and General Secura are doing okay, for all intents and purposes, though I’m sure you knew that.” He said. “And General Plo, and Wolffe…”

“Same as always.” Obi-Wan chuckled softly. “And what of Rex’s men?”

“The 501st boys are busy covering for Rex.” Said Cody. “They want to give him as much time with Fives as possible before…” Cody sighed. “Before he has to go again.” He glanced at Obi-Wan out of the corner of his eye. “We both know he can’t stay here.”

“I know.” Obi-Wan murmured. “Perhaps… when he wakes up, he could at least enlighten us all a little bit on what happened on Kamino.”

“That’s my hope too.”

“What about Anakin? Has he noticed Rex’s absence?”

“No. He’s too distracted worrying about Tano.” He hummed. “I still can’t believe she left. I liked that kid.”

“As did I.” Obi-Wan murmured. “We wronged her. We failed her, all of us, except for Anakin.” He sighed. “Everything feels so clouded, Cody. I can’t seem to stop failing the people I care about.”

“You never failed me.” Cody replied without hesitation. “Things… changed. But you didn’t fail me.” He lowered his voice slightly, looking down at Obi-Wan. “I didn’t stop seeing you because I stopped loving you, Obi-Wan. I stopped because – because whatever’s about to happen, the last thing in the galaxy I want is for you to get caught up in it.”

“Your burdens are my privilege, Cody.” Obi-Wan said. He hesitated a beat, and reached up to Cody’s face, cupping his cheek. “Whatever lies ahead, we shall weather the storm together. Won’t we?”

Cody met Obi-Wan’s eyes, and slowly slid his hand on top of his Jedi’s. Gave it a little squeeze.

“Thank you.” He mumbled.

Obi-Wan smiled, and took a small step forward, closing the gap between them and sealing it with the softest kiss.

~

Tallulah leaned against the wall of the bedroom, watching Rex mumble softly in a language she didn’t understand to Fives as he slept. She kept her arms crossed, fingernails digging into her palms. She wanted to go to Fives, to sit on his other side, but she kept her distance. He was finally back with the man he loved.

“I didn’t… I didn’t catch your name.” Rex said from the bed. His voice was hoarse and scratchy.

“Tallulah.” She said, looking down at the floor. Anywhere but at his red puffy eyes. “Tallulah Chia.”

“I’m Captain Rex.” He hesitated. “I ah… how did you two um…”

“He was fending for himself in the Outer Rim.” Tallulah said. “He tried to rob me.” She chuckled, looking back over at Fives, a sad look on her face. “I told him he could stick with us.”

“Us?”

“Yeah, um, the rest of the crew.” Tallulah said. “The Chiss guy from the roof, his name is Fiske. Then there’s Rhokan, and Nanook. Four us total, and Fives makes – well, five.”

“Where are they now?” Rex asked.

“On the ship, probably. In fact,” she checked her commlink. “I better check in with them before too long. They’re worried about him.”

Rex smiled, turning back to the bed. “Thank you.” He said quietly. “For keeping him safe where I couldn’t.”

Tallulah was quiet for a few moments, then reluctantly spoke up.

“You shouldn’t… beat yourself up.” She told him. “And – and try not to be angry at him either. He spent that whole time trying to find some way to contact you.”

It was Rex’s turn to fall silent, so Tallulah continued.

“He told me all about you. Wouldn’t shut up about you actually, it was embarrassing.” She said, coaxing a small smile out of Rex. “Humiliating, even. Finally we got sick of him yammering on about you so we came back here to find you.”

“Is that so?” Rex asked, smile fading. “Then why was he trying to run away?”

“It’s… complicated.” Tallulah murmured. “He told me … what happened to you. All of you. He thought -.” She sighed. “He thought staying away from you was the right thing to do. He wanted to keep you safe.”

“It’s not his responsibility to look after me.” Rex said, a little sharper than he meant to. He shifted one hand to brush some of the hair out of Fives’ face. “Looking after him, keeping him out of trouble… that was always my job. Not the other way around.”

“Trouble always seemed to have a way of finding him.” Tallulah chuckled. “At least, since I’ve known him.”

“That it does.” Rex agreed, giving her a sad little smile.

“You know, if you want to um, change clothes or something, I can keep an eye on him.” Tallulah offered. “You’ve gotta be freezing, sitting there in your wet clothes. You’ll catch a cold.”

Rex shook his head. “Thanks, but I don’t want to leave him alone anymore.”

“C’mon, man.” Tallulah pressed. “What good will you do if you push yourself so much that you can’t keep protecting him?”

_“If you push yourself before you’ve at least slightly healed yourself, you’ll wind up dead. Is that what you want?”_

_“We only have twenty-four hours, Bly.” Rex barked. “We don’t have time to sit around, now where are my clothes?”_

_“What if Fives is in here?” Bly hissed._

_“Don’t.” Rex warned._

_“I mean it. What if you die right here on this floor because you were too stupid to take thirty fucking minutes to recover, and because you weren’t there to save his sorry ass, Fives gets killed?”_

Rex nodded slowly. “Perhaps you’re right.” He murmured. “I need to get something of his anyway.” He stood, putting a hand on Tallulah’s shoulder as he passed. She noted the gloves. “Keep an eye on him.”

“Sir yes sir.” Tallulah gave him a little salute. She waited until Rex had stepped out of the room before she closed the door, wandering over to the bed and sitting on the edge.

“He seems kind.” She murmured to Fives, fiddling with the sheets and avoiding looking right at him. “I get why you love him. He’s clearly nuts about you.”

She shook her head. “You know, when I picked you up, I didn’t expect for you to stay with us like you did.” She admitted. “And I definitely didn’t expect for you to grow on me.”

She twisted her hands, glancing back at him. “When I saw you get shot…” She shuddered, and put one hand gently over the bandage on his chest. “I thought I’d die right there with you. I’ve never – I didn’t know it was _possible_ to feel fear like that.”

She let her hand linger there for a moment, and cleared her throat. “So, you better wake up soon, so I can yell at you for getting your ass shot when you swore you’d be careful.” She told him firmly.

She sniffed slightly, and wiped her eyes, flattening her palms against the sheets.

Tallulah felt a warm hand ghost over her own, and her eyes flew open, looking over her shoulder at Fives.

Fives smiled at her from behind his breathing mask, pulling it down slightly with his other hand so he could talk.

“Fives?”

“Like I said,” he said each phrase on its own breath, his eyelids heavy. “Where… would I be… without you?”

Tallulah laughed, wiping her eyes again. “Excuse me, are you implying that I’m the reason you got shot?”

“Well, you weren’t there to -.” He winced, sitting up slightly. “Dramatically throw yourself in front of me and save me.” He said. “So, it’s loosely your fault.”

“I hate you.”

Fives grinned. “Yeah, I love you too.”

Tallulah’s heart skipped a beat, and Fives continued without even realizing what he’d said.

“Where are the others?”

“Um,” Tallulah swallowed, shaking her head. “Yes, um, Cody is in the main room with the Jedi. Rex went to change clothes -.”

“No, I mean our others.” Fives said. “Nanook, Rho, Fiske.” He looked concerned. “Are they alright?”

Tallulah smiled. “Yeah, Fives. They’re okay. Worried about you.” She said, patting his hand gently. “I should um… I should probably go check in with them soon. They’re holed up on the ship.”

Fives nodded. He settled the mask back over his mouth and nose again, leaning back against the pillows.

“How are you feeling?” Tallulah asked softly. “You want me to get Kix?”

“Feels like I got shot.” Fives replied dryly. “It’s… it hurts, a bit.” Fives admitted. He pulled his mask down again. “Tal, I gotta tell you something. I feel like – I don’t know. It’s not something I can talk to Rex about.”

Tallulah nodded, scooting closer. “What’s going on?”

Fives hesitated. “I think I’m -.”

“Fives.”

Both of them jumped at Rex in the doorway. They hadn’t even heard the door open. Tallulah stood quickly, moving out of the way as Rex took her place on the bed.

“You’re awake.” He smiled, cupping Fives’ cheeks. “How do you feel? Do you need anything?”

“Water, actually.” Fives murmured, smiling up at Rex.

“I got it.” Tallulah said, and stepped quietly out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“Do you love him?”

She jolted, whipping her head around. The clone with the Republic cog tattoo – Jesse – was leaning against the wall beside the doorway, arms folded.

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough.” Jesse replied, pushing himself off the wall and coming up to Tallulah. “Do you love him?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Tallulah muttered, storming away from him. Jesse grabbed her arm, holding her in place.

“You don’t know what they’ve gone through.” Jesse said quietly. “You can’t even _begin_ to understand what it’s like for them.”

Tallulah yanked on her arm. “Let go of me.”

“You think I haven’t seen people like you before? Taking advantage of clones because we’re _beneath_ you?”

“Fuck you, I saved his life.” Tallulah spat.

“And I’m sure he’s grateful for it.” Jesse said back, narrowing his eyes at her. “But you don’t belong here, bounty hunter, and you never will. Don’t forget that.”

“Jesse.”

The ARC Trooper looked up, and Tup shook his head at him.

“How dare you?” He said quietly. “You should be ashamed.”

Jesse crossed his arms defensively, leaning back again. “He’s been through enough.”

“And she brought him _home._ ” Tup snapped. “Get out. Kix was looking for you anyway.”

Jesse scowled, but pushed himself off the wall anyway, casting one last look at Tallulah before storming out.

“Miss Chia,” Tup began. “If you’d like to return to your ship, now’s the time. The Temple is quiet, I can escort you there safely.”

“Oh.” Tallulah murmured, and glanced back at the bedroom door. She nodded resolutely. “Yeah, of course. Um, thank you… Tup?”

“That’s me.” He nodded. “I’ll keep you updated on how he’s doing.”

“Thanks.” She smiled. “And please, call me Tallulah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're about to pass When You Reach Me in terms of length, and we're only about halfway through. This one will definitely be a long one!


	15. The Force That Surrounds Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's smut in this chapter, proceed at your own risk. 
> 
> Also, I'm going to aim to post two chapters a day from here on out. I'm too excited to wait a full day.

Two days had passed. Fives was gaining strength each day, and no longer had to wear the breathing mask. Kix came by every four hours to check in on him and replace his bandages, but by the end of the second day, the wound had almost entirely healed.

“Bacta is really something else.” Fives said with a chuckle, glancing down at the dark patch of skin on his chest.

“Yeah, you and Rex will have matching scars now.” Kix said, smirking at his Captain. “Remember Saleucami?”

“Don’t remind me. Didn’t care much for getting shot then, and I certainly don’t care for Fives getting shot now.” Rex said, knocking his forehead affectionately against Fives.

“Where’s General Kenobi been sleeping, anyway?” Fives asked. “I feel bad for taking his bed.”

Kix raised an eyebrow, and tried to look nonchalant. “You didn’t hear it from me,” he began. “But I heard he’s been in Cody’s quarters the past two nights.”

“Ah, so they finally patched things up then?” Rex hummed. “Good for them.”

“Not quite there yet but… getting there.” Kix acknowledged. “Gods know we’ve been waiting for it. Feels like things might be starting to go back to normal at last.” He sighed. “Hells, Fives. Maybe we can just… come clean with this whole thing, you know? Stop the hiding, stop the running. You can come back to the fold.”

Fives smiled, but it was bittersweet, and he didn’t answer Kix right away. Rex noticed, and put a gentle hand on Fives’ shoulders.

“Kix, will you give us a moment?”

The medic nodded, rising to his feet and exiting the room, activating the lock behind him so the men had some privacy.

“What is it?” Rex asked softly.

“What exactly do you remember?” Fives murmured. Rex looked away, studied his hands.

“Just… bits and pieces.” He admitted. “Fragments of memories. Can’t really piece together anything concrete.” He looked back up at Fives. “You know the truth, don’t you?”

Fives nodded. “We were taken to Kamino against our will. They drugged us, put us in some kind of… simulated nightmare.” Fives explained. “We were all given these flowers, and we had a code name that corresponded to each flower. Our goal was to find our matching flower and take them to the center of this huge Labyrinth, then we could escape. Except… except only one of us could make it out alive.”

Rex listened quietly, finding Fives’ hand again and squeezing it. “What happened?”

“Jesse and I woke up together.” Fives recounted. “We found Tup, and – and by the time we found you and the others… you’d been burned, Rex.” He shuddered. “One of your trials… you had to stand in fire, you had to let them burn you, in order to save Bly.”

Rex swallowed, looked down at his hands again. “Well… that explains quite a bit.” He muttered bitterly.

“They made us do horrible things, Rex. They possessed Cody, turned him into some kind of twisted monster. They got in Wolffe’s head, made him – made him kill Jesse. He tried to kill Tup, he would’ve killed the rest of us too except Kix killed him first.” He shook his head, biting his lower lip. “I watched you all die, one by one. Until it was just you and me left.”

“I remember.” Rex murmured. “There was… there was some kind of glass box. A lift.”

Fives nodded. “You… you sacrificed yourself to save me.” Fives replied.

“Why?” Rex breathed. “Why would they do this to us?”

“When I woke up, and realized it was all a simulation, the Kaminoans told me they were commissioned by the Chancellor to find the strongest clone to create a new genetic makeup for the next generation of clones.” Fives explained. “And since I was the last man standing…”

“They were going to decommission you, and use you to make more of us.” Rex finished. His face crumbled, and he pressed Fives’ knuckles against his lips again. “That’s why you had to run.” He murmured. “They were going to kill you.”

“They still will, if they find me.” Fives said. “That’s why I can’t stay, Rex.”

A pause. “Did you – did they try to hurt you? After I left?”

“No.” Rex chuckled bitterly. “No. I was damaged goods. They went after Cody instead. Lucky for us, the Jedi got there in the nick of time. General Plo, General Secura, and…” He trailed off, not wanting to think about Ahsoka leaving. Fives shook his head.

“But – the bacta tank, you were healing.”

Rex pulled back, took off his gloves.

Fives’ sharp intake of breath broke Rex’s heart, and he curled his mutilated hands into fists.

“Oh, Rex…”

“It’s everywhere, Fives. This is just the worst of it.” Rex said, pulling his gloves back on. “Trust me, there’s nothing pretty under all this.” He said bitterly. “Just more burns and scars and the wretched aftermath of whatever the hell they did to me on the outside.”

“I don’t care about the scars, Rex.” Fives said seriously. “I’d never care.”

Another beat of silence. “Show me.”

“Fives, it’s worse than you think.” Rex warned. “Are you -.”

“Rex.”

The Captain sighed, and reluctantly peeled his shirt off. The burn scars stretched across his abdomen, across his biceps, the old battle scars Fives used to kiss and worship were buried under the gnarled and twisted skin. He was disfigured, the burns creeping up his neck and in patches around his face and eyes. The scarring was less obvious there, but still present.

Fives sat up with a soft grunt, and pressed a cool hand over Rex’s chest. Felt the rough skin beneath his fingers.

“Pretty disgusting, right?” Rex said dryly.

“No.” Fives shook his head. “No, I was just thinking…” he gave Rex a small, sad smile. “I haven’t felt your heartbeat in a long time.”

He felt Rex’s heart pick up under his fingertips, and he pulled his Captain close, kissing him deeply. “No amount of scarring would ever make me stop loving you, Rex.” Fives murmured against his lips. “This is evidence. Evidence of your triumphs, and your wretched survival.” He cupped Rex’s cheek. “And evidence of what you went through to keep me alive down there. To keep _all_ of us alive.”

“Doesn’t sound like I was that successful.” Rex murmured.

“We’re still here, aren’t we?” Fives prompted. “Even me.”

Rex studied Fives in the low light of the room for a moment, then stood, flicking off the lights and climbing fully onto the bed, onto Fives.

“Kiss me again, soldier.” Rex commanded, voice barely above a whisper. “Like you mean it.”

“Sir, yes sir.” Fives held the back of Rex’s head, keeping him in place as his other arm went around his shoulders, pulling him as close as they could get. Rex’s hands found their way to his tunic – already opened so Kix could access his bandages, but Rex pushed it open further, off his shoulders, onto the floor. Fives’ hands found their way to Rex’s lower fatigues, squeezed his ass through the fabric as he shifted Rex so their hips were better lined up with one another. Rex, however, was not as subtle, not as slow and sensual as Fives was trying to be, and shoved his hand straight down the front of Fives’ tunic pants.

Fives grunted softly, breaking the kiss to look at Rex. “Right now?” He asked quietly. “In a Jedi’s bed? In _Kenobi’s_ bed?”

“Kenobi and Cody have done _plenty_ of uncivilized things in this bed.” Rex replied. “What’s one more from the two of us?”

Fives raised an eyebrow, then chuckled. “Who are you, and what have you done with Captain Rex?” He asked, kissing Rex again and moaning softly against his lips as Rex’s gloved hand cupped Fives’ dick.

“I’m right here.” Rex replied. “I just don’t have the patience to waste time on formalities for a change.”

“Heat of the moment sex is a good look for you.” Fives replied, nipping at Rex’s lower lip.

“Fuck you.”

“Oh, I plan to.”

Rex _grinned,_ eyes shining in the darkness of the room, and kissed Fives again.

~

“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.” Kix warned as Jesse entered Obi-Wan’s quarters, already making his way back towards the bedroom.

“Why not?” Jesse asked, pausing just a beat before keying in the unlock code.

“They’re ah…” Kix searched for a delicate way of phrasing it. “They had me leave the room rather quickly.”

“Just say they’re fripping.” Jesse said tiredly. “Kriff, in the General’s bed too?”

“We fripped in Rex’s quarters once -.”

“Yeah, and he doesn’t _know_ that, so keep your voice down.” Jesse scolded, coming over to where Kix was sitting on the couch and flopping down, laying his head in the medic’s lap. “People are starting to notice the amount of clones coming and going from here.” Jesse murmured. “We’ll have to sneak Fives out soon.”

“I know.” Kix murmured. “He’s leaving later tonight, he told me when I was in there earlier.”

“Does Rex know?” Jesse asked.

“I think Fives is going to talk to him after.” Kix murmured. “I just hope Rex is okay after all this.”

“Fives is alive. Rex got to see him again.” Jesse said. “He’ll be fine. He’s tough.”

Kix smiled, glancing down at Jesse. “What would you do if it were me?”

“I’d move the galaxy to get you back to me.” Jesse replied, reaching up to cup Kix’s cheek. He wrapped his arms around Kix’s waist and buried his face in the medic’s stomach. Kix just laughed, holding Jesse close and glancing back towards the bedroom door.

~

“Kriff, Rex.” Fives breathed, arching his back slightly into Rex’s hand.

“What? Is it the gloves?” Rex asked quietly, glancing between them for a beat.

“Yeah.” Fives nodded. “Feels good.”

Rex sighed in quiet relief, and pushed Fives’ tunic pants off the rest of the way, slowly stroking his dick.

“Careful, Rex.” Fives chuckled. “I just got shot a few days ago. Keep that up and I might not – _oh, kriff –_ might not be able to do much else.”

“I don’t care.” Rex said, kissing along Fives’ neck, across his jaw. “I like seeing the faces you make, and all your little gasps and groans.” He teased.

Fives grinned. “You’re the noisy one, between the two of us.” He said, kissing Rex again. “Or has it been so long you’ve forgotten?”

“A reminder from you wouldn’t be the end of the world.”

Fives laughed again, kissing his cheek and pressing their foreheads together for a beat. “I love you.” He murmured.

Rex kissed him again, much slower this time, softer. “I love you too.”

Fives planted one last little kiss on Rex’s nose before reaching over his shoulder, fumbling in Obi-Wan’s nightstand. “He’s gotta have somethin’ in here we can use, right?” He asked. “Pants off, Captain.”

Rex chuckled, doing as he was told and removing the last of his clothing. He hesitated at his gloves, ultimately deciding to leave them on. He pulled the sheets up around his shoulders watching as Fives fumbled around in the nightstand.

“Here it – wait.” Fives’ jaw dropped, and he looked at Rex over his shoulder before pulling a pair of binders out of the drawer, holding them with his thumb and forefinger. The two men stared at them in stunned silence for a moment, before they both _exploded_ in laughter.

“Little gods,” Fives wheezed, trying to catch his breath. “Which of them do you think -.”

“Kenobi.” Rex said without hesitation, wiping tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes. “It’s gotta be Kenobi. You think Cody would let the general handcuff him to the bed?”

“Would you let _me_ handcuff you to the bed?”

“No!”

“Not even if I blow you first?”

“Absolutely not!” Rex laughed again, shoving Fives and taking the binders from him, putting them back in the drawer and finding the lube that Fives had initially been looking for. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t see any of the other things in that drawer.” Rex muttered.

“It’s what we get for fripping in their bed.” Fives giggled, a hand over his chest to catch his breath. Laughing had caused his pain to flare up again, but he didn’t care. “It’s what we deserve.”

“Binders, little gods.” Rex chuckled. “Can’t wait to bring that up with the Commander later.”

“Later, indeed.” Fives murmured, pulling Rex close for another kiss. “You and I have other plans, presently.”

Rex grinned against his lips, letting Fives roll them so he was on top, pushing Rex’s legs apart.

“I’m gonna have to get used to that hair.” Rex teased from beneath him. “And the beard.”

“I think it makes me look rugged.” Fives replied, smoothing a hand through his hair.

“Perhaps, though this is fun too.” Rex added, reaching up and tangling a hand through Fives’ hair, giving it a tug.

“Careful Captain,” Fives growled, letting Rex tug him down for a kiss. “Even wounded, I think I can still take you in a fight.”

“You could never take me in a fight _before_ you got shot.”

“I gave it a good try.”

Rex laughed again, closed his eyes as he felt Fives begin to finger him open, the other man’s scratchy beard rubbing against his neck with every lazy kiss he planted there. Rex lost himself for a moment, thinking about the past, about times when Fives would be planet-side after weeks on assignment elsewhere, and would creep into Rex’s quarters in the middle of the night to climb in bed beside him. He thought about after the Citadel, after losing Echo, when all Fives could do was weep and scream and break things until he ran out of strength. Rex watched the man he loved fill with so much _rage_ and _grief_ that it exploded out of him until all he had left in him were wretched tears, and Rex held him on the floor of the refresher until Fives had cried himself out.

He remembered Umbara, remembered the long ride back to Coruscant, remembered not being able to look Fives in the eye for a week straight until Fives cornered him in a supply closet and fucked him stupid. There were no words of love, that day. No soft kisses or whispers of forgiveness. Just teeth and rage and cathartic release and a _hatred,_ not of each other, but of what had been done to them, what they had been made to do.

He thought of Zygerria, with Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka. Remembered Fives, and how the only thing that kept Rex’s spirit from breaking in the mines was remembering he still had someone he had to come home to. He’d promised to come home, so he would be _damned if he died down there._ There was a reason Fives never tried to pin his arms down, tried to overpower him after that. He was careful, and gentle, even when Rex needed it to be violent and dangerous, Fives’ roughest kiss still felt like coming home, like returning from a bad battle. Fives always just felt _safe._

“Hey.” Fives kissed Rex’s knee gently, calling him back. “Where’d you go?”

“Nowhere.” Rex murmured, smiling tenderly at him. “Just thinking about you.”

Fives hummed softly, scooting back up towards him and kissing him slowly again. When he pushed into Rex, it felt like a firework had exploded behind his eyes. The room suddenly felt so _bright,_ so full of love and warmth that Fives could almost reach out and touch it. Two souls bound together, or perhaps two souls that had always been entwined but now had found a way to lose themselves in each other entirely, and Fives thought he might weep.

“Do you feel that?” He asked quietly.

“Your dick? Yeah. I feel it.” Rex smirked.

“No. Something else.” Fives almost felt dizzy with it, like he could feel not just his own emotions and feelings, but Rex’s too. Echoes of pleasure and relief and an _overwhelming_ love. Fives was drunk on it, lost in just _feeling._

He kissed Rex again, moving at a slow, steady pace, focused entirely on Rex. He could hear the Captain whispering soft words in his ear, felt his arms around Fives’ shoulders, pulling him closer still. He felt Rex’s mouth moving against his neck, felt his hands tighten on his shoulders, and grinned to himself.

“Gettin’ there, Captain?” Fives teased, kissing the shell of his ear.

“Getting real close, yeah.” Rex muttered back. “Touch me?”

Fives obliged immediately, wrapping a hand around Rex’s dick and stroking him gently, working his hand along the shaft before brushing his thumb along the head. “When’s the last time I blew you?”

“The night you came back from your last mission – Felucia, I think?” Rex said, sighing quietly. He arched his back into Fives’ hand, making Fives pick up the pace. “You – kriff – you came in really late, I was half-asleep. Woke me up just to give me head.” Rex shook his head, chuckling to himself.

“I didn’t hear any complaints.”

“Why, are you wanting to b – blow me now?” Rex asked, breath hitching mid-word.

“Thinkin’ about it.” Fives murmured, nipping at Rex’s jawline. “You remembered that quick.”

“It was the next day that everything… everything happened.” Rex said quietly. “That’s how I remember. I keep playing that night in my head over and over again. That’s the last time I saw you before – all of this.”

“Hey, don’t start thinking about all that now.” Fives soothed, hand slowing down as his other one came up to cup Rex’s cheek. “Focus in, Captain.”

Rex nodded, and smirked up at Fives. “Pick up the pace, soldier.”

Fives grinned, and moved his hips faster, keeping one hand pumping on Rex’s dick and the other finding his hand, interlocking their fingers while Fives kissed him again.

“We’re gonna make a mess all over Kenobi’s bed.” Fives mumbled, picking up the pace again. His breathing was ragged, and Rex knew those signs all too well.

“I’ll apologize to him when I’m bringing up the handcuffs.”

Fives laughed, and that was enough to send him over the edge. Kriff, that sound was like music. Fives gave one final thrust before pulling out abruptly and spending himself across Rex’s stomach. Rex followed suit only a beat later, into Fives’ hand.

“See?” Rex panted softly, tilting his head up at Fives. “No mess.”

“I’m a bad influence on you, sir.” Fives chuckled, bending over to kiss him again before standing up on wobbly legs, padding over to the refresher for a towel to clean themselves up with. As he walked, the Coruscant moonlight bathed his body, highlighting scars both old and new. The exit wound from the blaster on his back looked a bit like a star, in this lighting, and Rex’s heart ached.

Fives must’ve felt Rex’s eyes on him, because he turned around, chuckling. “Like what you see?”

“Something needs to be done about that hair.” Rex said instead. “Have you even brushed it out?”

“Forgive me for not keeping my hair up to regulations, sir.” Fives drawled, coming back with the towel to clean his mess off Rex before wiggling back into bed beside him, pulling him close. He kissed the back of Rex’s neck, burying his face in the space between Rex’s jaw and shoulder.

“It’ll be daylight in just a few hours.” Fives murmured. “I should go before it gets too light out.”

Fives didn’t miss the uptick in Rex’s heartbeat. He could feel the tension in the air, bleeding into the space where love and light had occupied only moments ago.

“Where will you go?”

“To be honest? Not sure.” He sighed. “There’s one more stop I need to make here in Coruscant, and then it’s back to the _Leviathan,_ if they’ll have me.”

“What’s the stop?”

“I…” Fives sat up slightly, and Rex rolled over to look at him. “I can’t… explain it, really.” He began. “I’ve been feeling things. Strange things, like – like feelings of people around me, and feeling things before they happen.”

Rex narrowed his eyes, but didn’t interrupt.

“And after I got shot, I saw Ahsoka.” Fives said. “She told me – She said I was dream-walking, it’s something only Jedi can do. She told me to meet her, and we’d figure out what’s going on.”

“Wait.” Rex shook his head. “You saw Commander Tano? In your head?”

“No, no real as I see you now.” Fives said. “I could’ve reached out and touched her.” He looked down at his hands.

“Something changed me, Rex. The things that happened… I feel like – like I’ve been asleep this whole time and I’m suddenly _awake._ ”

“Awake how?”

Fives shook his head in disbelief, thinking to himself. He’d never admitted it to himself before, but it was true. He’d felt different, ever since he’d woken up. He didn’t tire as easily, he could jump further, run faster, he could sense things around him. He felt… _connected_ to Rex, in a way like he’d never felt before.

_Like a bond._

“Fives?”

He looked up.

“I can feel it.” He whispered. “I can feel the Force.”

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when you guys wanted a Force-Sensitive Fives fic from me and asked for it for like 3 whole months? 
> 
> Don't say I never do anything for you. ;)


	16. The Prodigal Son

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are officially past When You Reach Me in terms of length, and we're at about the halfway point of the story! 
> 
> Thanks for joining me on this journey so far.

“Tell me what you feel.”

Fives closed his eyes, holding Rex’s hands in his own. “You, mostly.” He chuckled. “Worry, confusion… love.” He said quietly, opening his eyes again.

“How long have you felt off?”

“Since I woke up, for sure, but -.” Fives hesitated. “I don’t know, Rex. I feel like – I feel like this has always been present, it’s just… It’s just stronger now, and something I can really recognize and understand like I couldn’t before. Like on Umbara.” He explained.

He shifted slightly so he was sitting up completely, and Rex sat up with him.

“On Umbara… I knew something was off with Krell from the beginning. I couldn’t explain it, I could just… _feel_ it. Like a gut instinct. And the Umbaran starfighters, I got the hang of that quick too.” He added. “And when… when they were going to shoot us, when Krell ordered our execution, I felt like – I felt like if I really wanted to, I could make their blasters _move.”_

“Did you?” Rex asked softly.

“I didn’t have to.” He chuckled breathlessly. “But I remember thinking about it. I remember thinking to myself, ‘If this really happens. If I cannot talk them down, do I let them do it, or do I _make_ them stop?’”

He sighed softly. “And then… and then Echo.” He murmured. “I felt him die.”

_“Echo! Look out!”_

_“ECHO!!”_

“It was like someone blew out a candle. Or cut a rope in half. One minute he was there and the next… gone.” Fives whispered. He shook his head.

“But I’ve felt him since! In little bursts, but I’ve felt this – this connection. I can’t explain it.”

He could sense Rex’s apprehension only growing. He was trying to understand, he really was. But he was confused, and deep down, disbelieving.

“We all feel that, Fives.” Rex said gently. “It’s part of being what we are. Especially with you and Echo, you were as close as any lifeform could be.”

“I saw him, in the Labyrinth. Just like I saw Ahsoka when I was shot.”

“But Echo’s not a Jedi.” Rex insisted. “And Fives, neither are you.”

“I’m not trying to say I am.” Fives said softly. “But… But the first time I saw Echo, he was angry. Violent. Tried to hurt me. I thought it was Clover, playing tricks on my head.” He shook his head. “But the second time, the second time I saw him…”

_“Fives, how many times are you going to make the same mistakes?” His brother asked, kneeling in front of him and tilting his chin up._

_“You aren’t real.” Fives whispered, closing his eyes and trying to ignore Echo’s touch. “You aren’t here.”_

_“You’re right.” Echo nodded. “I’m not here. Not really.” He narrowed his eyes, cupping Fives’ jaw gently. “But I am real.”_

“I feel Echo in the same way I feel you. Different, yes, but the same bond. A connection.” Fives insisted.

Rex sighed, wrapping the sheet around his shoulders. “Can you prove it?” he asked simply.

“How?”

“Use the Force. Like the Jedi do.” He reached down beside the bed, fumbling around for a moment and coming back up with his helmet. “Lift it. Not with your hands.”

Fives frowned, but held his hand out, glaring at the helmet. Rex watched, one eyebrow cocked up.

The helmet didn’t even tip.

“I don’t know how the Jedi do it.” Fives admitted after a moment, dropping his hand. “I just feel things, Rex. Ahsoka will know what to do.”

“Ahsoka?” Rex repeated.

“I told you, I saw her.” Fives explained. “She wants me to meet her. Whatever’s happening to me, maybe she can explain it.”

Rex put his head in his hands for a moment. “Say you _can_ use the Force.” He began, lifting his head again. “And you’ve turned into – what, a Jedi? Let’s say you can. What does that mean for the rest of us?” He asked. “And do you think the Kaminoans knew? Is that – is that part of what they were after? They were trying to… I don’t know, _extract_ whatever it is that makes you…” He shrugged. “Different?”

“I don’t know.” Fives admitted. “Something bigger is going on, Rex. The Kaminoans, the Chancellor, all of it. I don’t – I don’t know what, but I’ve got a bad feeling. A _really_ bad feeling.”

“Fives, it’s not that I don’t believe you -.”

“I know it sounds crazy.” Fives begged. “But think about it. About when I was shot. I outran you, all of you. Easy. I was scaling the sides of buildings.”

“You’re an ARC Trooper, it’s nothing you haven’t done before.” Rex insisted.

“I knew Cody was going to shoot me before he even pulled the trigger.”

Rex frowned. “How do you know it was Cody who shot you?” Rex asked. “I don’t know who shot you. I -.” He shook his head. He’d been so sidetracked trying to make sure Fives wasn’t going to kriffing _die_ that he’d completely forgotten that someone _had_ shot him. “I don’t know who shot you.” Rex realized with a sudden finality.

“I do.” Fives said. “It was Commander Cody. He shot me.”

“How could you have seen that? There was so much rain, and it was dark -.”

“Rex, I _felt_ it!”

Rex’s helmet went _flying_ out from between them and clattered against the far wall, making both men jump. Another emotion clouded the Force, and Fives felt it, radiating in waves off Rex as the Captain looked at him.

Fear.

“You’re afraid?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.” Fives murmured, cupping Rex’s cheek gently.

Rex leaned into his touch. “Think things will ever be normal again?”

Fives paused, sighed softly. “No.” he murmured. “No, I don’t think they ever will be.”

Rex leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together again, trying to center himself.

“We can’t tell the others.” He murmured.

“Why not?”

“Because the moment you start acting like a _Jetii,_ you stop being one of _us,_ and start being one of _them.”_ Rex insisted softly. “But you won’t _ever_ be one of them, Fives. Never. You know just as well as I do, even _if_ you could do -.” He gestured helplessly towards his fallen helmet. “They’d never, _ever,_ let someone like us walk among them.”

He squeezed Fives’ hand gently. Worriedly.

“You wouldn’t be one of us, and you wouldn’t be a Jedi either. They’d call you _dar’manda.”_

Fives was quiet. “And you?” He asked quietly. “What would you call me?”

Rex gave him a soft look, and tucked a lock of Fives’ hair behind his ear, letting his hand linger on Fives’ cheek.

“I’d still call you mine, _cyare,_ no matter what.”

Fives looked down, at the space on the bed where the helmet once sat.

“If you feel like this is something you need to do,” Rex murmured, tilting Fives’ chin back up. “Then do it. Your path is your own to walk, Fives.” He nodded resolutely. “And I’m with you. Until the end.”

Fives felt a tear sneak out of his eye, and Rex brushed it away with his thumb.

“You’ve come a long way from that kid on Rishi.” Rex told him, pulling their foreheads together again. “And your journey has only just begun.”

~

The sky was just barely beginning to bleed with purple, and Rex sat on the edge of the bed, Fives sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of him.

“I didn’t know you knew how to braid hair.” Fives chuckled.

“Got it from Tup. Calms him down after a bad battle.” Rex explained, carefully combing his fingers through Fives’ still-damp hair. They hadn’t slept that night, just stayed up talking, and spent as much time holding one another as they could. When they couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer, they showered together, and got dressed. Rex was still sitting in his blacks, but Fives was back in the tunic Obi-Wan had given him. It was dark, much darker than Obi-Wan usually wore, but complimented Fives well. It had a silver trim along the edges, and Rex thought it made him look handsome.

“Feels odd to be out of armor.” Fives murmured. “Whatever happened to mine, anyway?”

“I kept it safe for you.” Rex smiled, braiding a small section of Fives’ hair before gathering up the rest of his hair and pulling it all back in a ponytail, showing off the braid on the right side of his head.

“Kept it safe, ah?” Fives hummed.

“It’s over there.” Rex said, nodding towards a little black rucksack in the corner of the room. He tied the ponytail low, and wrapped it carefully in a faded piece of royal blue silk, knotting it where it wouldn’t be visible, and the blue swirling pattern would be prominent.

“Where’d you get that?” Fives asked, spotting the silk out of the corner of his eye before Rex started working it into his hair.

“It was given to me by a Torgrutan woman on Zygerria, after we freed their people.” Rex said. “I carry it with me, in my armor. Looks better on you.” He chuckled.

Fives smiled, waiting for Rex to finish before standing up. He glanced in the refresher mirror, looking at his reflection. He smiled to himself, and pulled a bit of his hair out of the ponytail, curling it around his finger so he had one loose curly section framing his face.

“Wait.” Rex stood, taking off his vambraces and instead securing them to Fives’ wrist. “There.” He murmured. “You can’t wear your own armor without being recognized but… at least wear some of mine.” He looked up at Fives. “That way it’s like I’m always with you.”

He fished around in the rucksack for a moment, coming back with Fives’ blaster pistols. “And I imagine you’ll want these back too.”

“Oh, I _missed_ these.” Fives sighed, twirling them on his fingers before tucking them into his holsters.

Fives gave Rex a little smile and went back to his armor, studying the contents. He pulled his boots and shin plates out of the stack, pulling them over his tunic leggings for some added protection, and finally picked up his helmet, running his fingers over the Rishi Eel design on the front.

He tucked it under his arm, pulling on his cloak last, the fabric billowing out behind him like a cape. “There.” He said, turning to face Rex again. “How do I look?”

Rex looked him up and down, and gave him a small, sad smile.

“Like a Jedi.” He admitted. “A Mandalorian Jedi.”

Fives frowned, and stepped up to Rex, taking his hand. “Come with me.”

Rex didn’t meet his eyes, instead just squeezing his hand lightly.

“I can’t.” he murmured. “If – if what you say is true, and something bigger is coming for us…” He shook his head. “Then I have to stay here. I have to protect our people, however I can.”

He swallowed, turning away before Fives could see the shine of tears in his eyes. “Ah, before I forget.” He passed a commlink over to Fives. “Take this with you. It’s on its own unique scramble set, it’ll only go to me. That way you can contact me whenever you can.”

Fives took it wordlessly, affixing it to his wrist.

“Am I going to see you again?”

Fives looked up at Rex again, and he could feel Rex’s sadness permeating the room, like a thick black curtain had been pulled over everything surrounding them.

“Yes.” Fives promised. “I swear to it. When all of this is over, we’ll see each other again.” He smiled. “So don’t get killed before then.”

Rex huffed a soft little laugh, and pulled Fives’ wrist close again, plugging something into his commlink.

“When you’re ready,” he began. “Go to these coordinates. There’s someone there who can help you. Just tell him I sent you.” He released Fives’ hand, looked up at him with shining eyes. “And as soon as I can, I’ll meet you there. Okay?”

“Alright.” Fives nodded. “I’m going to hold you to that, Rex.” He promised, tapping his commlink. “This’ll be our meeting place, when all is said and done.”

Rex blinked rapidly, and gave a stiff little nod. “When all is said and done.” He echoed. He cleared his throat. “Alright, get out of here. The sun’ll be up soon. I’ll give the others your best.”

“Right.” Fives moved to the window, preparing to climb out, but paused, giving Rex one last look over his shoulder.

He hesitated, then ran back to Rex, pulling him into a tight hug.

“I love you.” Fives murmured in his ear.

Rex held him close, and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. “I know.” He pulled back, squeezing Fives' hands. "Go." 

Fives nodded, and touched Rex’s cheek one last time before finally climbing out the window and disappearing into the night.

Rex watched him go, arms wrapped around himself.

“Be safe.” He murmured to the empty room. Hesitated. “And… May the Force be with you.”

~

“You really think he’s coming back?” Tallulah drawled, picking at her fingernails. “C’mon. We haven’t heard from him at all the past day or two. We’re only getting updates from Tup. It’s just a matter of time before Tup tells us he’s decided to stay or something.”

“I’m just saying maybe we should wait a bit longer.” Rhokan insisted. “When did you become the pessimistic one?”

Tallulah rolled her eyes, but didn’t answer. “We’re wasting our time.” She muttered. “We should at least find a job or something while we’re here. Where the hell are we going next?”

“There he is!” Nanook cried, face pressed against the glass of the ship window before hastily dropping the landing platform.

Fives practically skipped up the ship, grinning at them all. “Thank the gods you’re all okay.” He said. “I was -.”

He was cut off with a grunt as Nanook hugged him, and Fives laughed, patting her head.

“Hey kid.” He smiled. “Ya miss me?”

“A lot.” Nanook admitted, pulling back to look up at him. “We thought you were dead. Do you have a big scar?” She asked, poking at his chest. “Does that hurt?”

“Easy, easy,” Fives laughed again.

“Good to have you back, Fives.” Rhokan smiled, clapping him on the shoulder. “The Prodigal Son returns at last.”

“Yes, Tallulah didn’t think you’d be coming back at all.” Fiske called from the cockpit.

“Snitch.” Tallulah muttered.

“Oh, did she now?” Fives asked, looking over at her. Tallulah shrugged, rising to her feet.

“You look different.”

“I feel different.” Fives admitted. “But… but there are still some things I have to do. And I want to stay with you, with the _Leviathan,_ for as long as I can. If you’ll have me.” He added.

“Of course!” Nanook said, delighted. “You’re part of the crew, Fives.”

Fives looked to Tallulah. He was asking her permission.

“Yeah, alright.” Tallulah rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself. “Can’t do anything when you’re giving me those stupid eyes.”

Fives grinned. “Thanks, Tal.”

“So, where are we headed next?” Tallulah asked. “Back in the sky?”

“No. We’ve got one more place to go on Coruscant.” Fives said.

“We have to find Ahsoka Tano.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahsoka would've been a great Jedi Master tbh. We were robbed of her having a Padawan so Fives is gonna fill that gap for us.


	17. The Road to Ilum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had some questions about Fives' new look so to clarify some things: 
> 
> Currently, out of his old armor, he's only wearing his boots and shin guards, plus Rex's vambraces (the wrist armor). Otherwise he's in a black tunic. He's got his helmet with him but he'll rarely wear it. Picture season 3 TCW Obi-Wan, you know how he wore clone armor from his elbows down to his hands? Same thing with Fives, except his tunic is black and he's got his clone boots on too. So no Kama, Pauldron, no torso armor, nothing that overtly screams "Clone trooper". It's very subtle. 
> 
> I wanted to blend his roots with his new future, so his new look is a combo of both. Plus his cloak is a nod to The Mandalorian. A three way combination of his Jango Fett/Mandalorian heritage, his roots as a clone trooper, and his future as a Jedi.
> 
> Hope that helps!

Wolffe spotted Rex by himself in the mess hall, and sighed to himself. To anyone else, he might seem totally normal, but to Wolffe and the rest of the Labyrinth survivors…

He slid into the seat across from Rex. “Company?” He asked. Rex chuckled.

“Be my guest.” He said. “Rather out of character for you, don’t you think?”

“A lot has changed.” Wolffe replied. Lowered his voice. “How are you holding up?”

Rex, instead of answering, asked a question of his own. “Who shot him?”

Wolffe shook his head, looking away from Rex and instead down at the table. He noticed Rex’s vambraces were a different shade of blue than the rest of his armor – like Fives’ armor – but didn’t comment on it.

“What good will it do, Rex? He’s alive, he escaped, everything worked out okay. Does it help anyone to be angry at a _vod_ who made a mistake?”

“I’m not angry.” Rex said quietly, pushing the food around on his plate. “I’m not, honestly. I know it was a mistake.” He put his fork down, folding his hands under his chin. “I know who did it, Wolffe. I just need to hear you say it.”

The Commander huffed quietly, and didn’t meet Rex’s eyes again. “Cody.” He answered finally. “Cody shot him. But it was a mistake.” He added quickly. “He thought you two were fighting, he didn’t know who – who our man was.” Wolffe said, careful to avoid using Fives’ name.

Rex closed his eyes, scrubbed his hands over his face. “Skrag.”

“He didn’t know, Rex. Don’t be angry at him, he beat himself up enough.”

“I’m not angry at Cody. I probably would’ve done the same thing.” Rex admitted. “It’s just… this means our man was right.”

“Right about what?”

Rex looked up again. “Something is coming. Something _terrible_ is coming, and we have to stop it.”

~

Ahsoka Tano could sense eyes on her.

She kept her hood up, eyes forward, not betraying any knowledge yet that she knew she was being watched. She waited until she’d rounded a corner and heard her pursuer follow her before she stopped, turning around to face them.

“Who are you?” She demanded. “Show yourself!”

Fives chuckled, pulling his hood back and grinning at her. “Been awhile, Commander Tano.”

“Fives?” Ahsoka relaxed, but looked him up and down skeptically. “You look… different.”

“I’ve been getting that a lot today.” He said, and saluted her. “It’s good to see you again, Commander.”

“Not Commander anymore.” Ahsoka corrected him. “Just Ahsoka.”

Fives’ smile faded. “I’m so sorry… for what happened to you.”

“Yeah…” Ahsoka crossed her arms. “Yeah, me too. We have a lot to catch up on.” She looked around. “It’s not safe to talk here, do you have somewhere we can go?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a place. Got some other people for you to meet too.” Fives said, motioning for her to follow as he pulled his hood back up.

“You know, the ponytail look kind of suits you, Fives.”

“Everyone else has made fun of it.” Fives said with a cheeky little grin. “Have you been hiding out down here since everything happened?”

“It’s not like I have anywhere else to go.” Ahsoka said dryly.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore, Commander.” Fives told her proudly. He led her carefully down the streets, back towards where the _Leviathan_ was waiting.

“Bounty hunters?” Ahsoka asked apprehensively, eyeing the ship.

“They’re good ones.” Fives promised. “Trust me.”

“If you say so.” Ahsoka said, though she was concerned, nonetheless.

“He’s back.” Rhokan announced, stepping out on the landing platform as Fives and Ahsoka approached.

Ahsoka immediately paused at the sight of the Zygerrian, her lip curling slightly in disdain. She didn’t recognize him as one of the men from her time in Zygerria, but she certainly had no feelings of warmth towards his species these days.

“This is Ahsoka Tano. She’s ah – an old friend.” He settled on finally. “Ahsoka, this is Rhokan Do.”

Rhokan picked up on Ahsoka’s distaste, but offered his hand all the same. “He’s um – he’s said good things.” He told her awkwardly. Ahsoka didn’t take his hand, instead turning to watch the landing platform safely seal them in before removing her helmet.

“Nanook Lockwood, I’m the captain of this ship.” Nanook said cheerfully, holding out her hand to Ahsoka as Rhokan awkwardly let his drop. “Nice to meetcha!”

Ahsoka smiled slightly. She and Nanook were around the same age, though Nanook seemed slightly younger. “Nice to meet you as well, I’m Ahsoka.” She looked around the ship. “How’d a Nautolan end up as a pilot?”

“What can I say? The sea got boring, so I thought I’d give the sky a try.” Nanook said with a wink. “Over there, that’s Fiske Errvodu. He doesn’t talk much.”

Fiske didn’t look up from where he was carefully cleaning his rifle, but gave Ahsoka a halfhearted wave.

“And that just leaves -.”

“Tallulah Chia.” Tallulah interrupted Fives, nodding at Ahsoka. “Heard a lot about you, rogue Jedi.”

“Tal,” Fives said in a warning voice.

“I want to hear it from her.” Tallulah told him, keeping her arms crossed. “Fives says you’re one of the good ones.” She raised an eyebrow. “Are you?”

Ahsoka frowned, a hand on her hip. “I’m not a Jedi.” She said finally. “Not anymore.”

Tallulah huffed quietly, but seemed satisfied with the answer. “Welcome aboard.”

“Have you decided where we’re heading next, Fives?” Nanook asked, looking between him, Ahsoka, and Tallulah so fast that her head tails flicked.

“Not sure yet, kid.” Fives admitted. “But we need off Coruscant. We’ve definitely overstayed our welcome.”

“We oughta find another job. Gas and supplies ain’t free, Fives.” Tallulah said, punching him lightly in the arm as she walked by.

“Then you decide where we head.” Fives told her lazily. “Or better yet,” he turned to Ahsoka. “Any ideas?”

Ahsoka hesitated for a moment, studying Fives. “Ilum.” She said finally. “Chart a course to Ilum.”

“That’s quite a journey.” Said Rhokan. “Do we have the supplies to get us there?”

“We’ll need to stop somewhere in between to fuel up and get some more supplies, but shouldn’t be too terrible.” Nanook replied.

“What’s on Ilum?” Fives asked.

“May I speak with you privately for a moment?” Ahsoka asked him, keeping her voice down. Fives frowned, but nodded, letting the others prepare the ship as he led Ahsoka back to his quarters.

“What’s going on, Commander?”

“Ahsoka, please.” Ahsoka corrected him again. “How much have you told them? About what you can do?”

“Nothing yet.” Fives admitted. “They’ve – they’ve seen me do things, but that was before I’d even fully realized something was off.”

“Tell me everything you know.”

Fives recounted what he remembered from the Labyrinth, as well as detailing any past examples he could think of for when he might have been using the Force. Ahsoka listened thoughtfully, and didn’t interrupt, but her expression darkened with every sentence.

“This is… troubling.” She murmured, deep in thought. “I’ve heard of this sort of thing happening before but – it’s tremendously rare.”

“How do you mean?”

“Every lifeform possesses the Force.” Ahsoka explained. “The Force lives in all of us, some are just more attuned to it than others. Usually, Force-Sensitive younglings are recovered early, and they’ve already begun exhibiting signs of Force sensitivity at a young age.” She shook her head. “It’s rare, _really_ rare, but sometimes Jedi holocrons can miss a name or two when prophesizing future younglings, if they’re Force-sensitive but not enough to really be considered a Jedi.”

She looked Fives up and down. “So those younglings can make it all the way to adulthood without even realizing they’re Force-sensitive. And most of the time, that’s fine, and it doesn’t affect their lives at all. But in rare cases, usually due to some kind of… awakening, like trauma,” She motioned to him. “It makes them come into their abilities with the Force way late in life.”

“So you think what happened in the Labyrinth brought it out in me?” Fives asked.

“I think it was always there, Fives.” Ahsoka told him. “But… but because you’re a clone…” She trailed off, embarrassed.

_Because you’re a clone, we never thought to look at you twice._

“I see.” Fives murmured.

“But I do think the Labyrinth made you more powerful, more awake to it.” Ahsoka said quickly. “And I think you think that too.”

“I definitely feel different.” Fives nodded, looking down at his hands.

“If we were back at the Temple, we could do a blood test and know for sure.” Ahsoka told him. “But since neither of us are in any position to do that, we’ll have to investigate the old-fashioned way.”

“Meaning?”

“The Jedi Temple on Ilum.” Ahsoka told him. “There’s a crystal cave there, where the Jedi go to get kyber crystals to power their lightsabers. Only Jedi can go in and out, and only _your_ crystal will reveal itself to you. _If_ you're really Force-sensitive.”

“But – but I don’t even know what to look for!” Fives protested. “I can’t even use the Force or whatever Jedi tricks you can do.”

“Yes you can. You did when you spoke to me after you were injured.” Ahsoka told him. “And you said you were able to move Rex’s helmet, right?” She crossed her arms, smiling at him.

“All you need is a teacher.”

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did... EXTENSIVE research to try and figure out if a clone could actually be Force Sensitive and the general consensus of the internet and canon lore is that all beings are born with the Force, but Midichlorians/attunement factors in to whether or not you're actually "Jedi Material", so to speak. 
> 
> So Fives' trauma sort of "woke up" his Force sensitivity, which is valid in the eyes of canon lore I suppose, if we're looking at characters like Rey.
> 
> Anyway, if Rey can just vibe on Jakku for 20 some odd years and then suddenly become the most powerful Jedi ever, then Fives can do it too. That's where I'm at with that.


	18. The Interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting a new chapter yesterday! But the good news is this just means you'll get two chapters today.

Anakin Skywalker was silent as he stalked down the halls of the Jedi Temple, and it didn’t take a Jedi to know he was furious.

“Sir,” Rex prompted, unable to bite his tongue any longer. “What’s this about?”

“The _Council,_ ” Anakin practically snarled the word. “Has been looking into ARC Trooper Fives’ disappearance, and the Kamino situation, as you probably know.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Well, they’ve spoken to everyone but you. I wasn’t able to hold them off any longer.” He looked sympathetically at Rex, pausing outside the door. “I’m sorry, I really tried.” He whispered. “I didn’t want you to have to go through anything more than you already have.”

“Don’t worry, sir.” Rex told him, squaring his shoulders. “If – If the Generals want to speak to me, I’ll tell them everything I know.”

In truth, Anakin was concerned about the memory probing more than anything else. Anakin had been very… _open_ with Rex, especially in regards to his relationship with a certain senator.

He pushed those thoughts from his mind. This was no time to be selfish.

“I’ll be right with you the whole time.” Anakin promised. “And if you want them to stop, say the word, and I’ll _make_ them stop.”

Rex chuckled. “I don’t doubt it, sir.”

Anakin smiled, and clapped him gently on the shoulder before leading him inside. Rex felt a chill creep up his spine almost immediately. The inner chambers of the Jedi Council were unusually darkened, and Mace Windu stood in the center of the room. He had an astromech beside him that Rex didn’t recognize, and General Kenobi stood a bit further behind him.

“Generals.” Rex said respectfully, clasping his hands behind him. He squeezed them together, trying to keep the shake out. Something was wrong. “General Skywalker said you needed to speak to me?”

“Yes.” Mace nodded. “We’ve spoken with the other clones who were taken to Kamino, but have yielded few results. We believe locating ARC Trooper Fives is the key to understanding this conspiracy.” He turned towards the windows, looking out over the setting sun against the horizon. “You and the trooper… you were close?”

“I… guess you could say that, sir.” Something was wrong. Something was _very_ wrong. Rex risked a glance towards Obi-Wan, who gave him the slightest shake of the head. Anakin noticed it too.

“Master Windu, with all due respect, what’s this about?” He asked, getting impatient. “The 501st is set to ship out in a few hours, and Rex needs to rest.”

“I understand that, Skywalker.” Mace said, his voice hard. “But you understand the urgency at which this conspiracy must be addressed.” He turned back to Rex. “Have you heard anything from this trooper, Rex?”

“I thought he had been killed, sir.” Rex replied smoothly. Not quite a lie. Obi-Wan looked tense. Anakin was visibly agitated.

“You haven’t heard anything from him at all? No comm chatter, no meetings, nothing at all?” Mace prompted.

Kriff, something was _definitely_ wrong. Rex forced his hands to still.

“No, sir. Like I said, I thought he’d been killed on Kamino.” He feigned innocence. “Is that not the case anymore?”

“We had reason to believe the trooper might still be alive.” Mace told him. “But we couldn’t confirm it. That is, until a few nights ago.”

The astromech began playing a holo-recording, and Rex’s blood ran cold.

Security footage, probably taken from a nearby building, showed the entrance of 79s. Rex could clearly see Fives, dressed in his hooded disguise, sprint out of the bar with Rex, Jesse, and Cody hot on his tail.

“Is that you, Captain?” Mace asked, his voice neutral.

Rex swallowed. “Yes sir. That’s me.”

“Why were you chasing this man?”

“Thought he seemed suspicious, sir.” Rex explained. His heart was pounding in his ears. “Kept his hood up, sat at the corner of the bar. You don’t go into a bar full of clones looking like that unless you’re after something. Sir.” He added quickly.

Mace frowned, but didn’t comment on it further, instead alternating the security footage to show the inside of the hangar. Rex watched as Fives sprinted through at inhuman speed, clearing the closing blast doors easily, then watched himself slide under the doors moments before they slammed shut.

“You seemed very determined to catch him, Captain.” Mace said. “You were even willing to risk your own life. That door could’ve cut you in half. Any reasonable man would’ve let him go and reported it later. Not to mention the target is clearly much faster than you are. He was getting away anyway,” he learned in slightly. “So why did you continue to chase him?”

Kriff, this was bad. He cleared his throat. “I ah -.” Kriff. He can’t lie. He’s never been a good liar. “He was running, sir. My gut told me to follow him.”

“And follow you did.” Mace murmured, nodding to the astromech again.

“Master, what’s this about?” Anakin demanded again. “Rex was doing his job, he thought he saw something suspicious, so he pursued it, I don’t understand why he’s being interrogated when all he did was -.”

Fives, ducking into an alleyway. He looked up the side of a building, took a step back, preparing to scale it. A gust of wind knocked his hood loose, and Fives pushed his hair back out of his face. It was a split second, but whatever probe droid was watching Fives only needed that one second to capture a very clear image of the 5 tattoo on his temple.

“This is ARC Trooper 5555, is it not?” Mace asked. Rex couldn’t answer. Couldn’t find his voice. Mace continued.

“Did you know it was him?”

Rex swallowed. Obi-Wan closed his eyes.

“Not… not in that moment, sir.” Rex admitted, his shoulders slumping.

“Oh, perhaps here, then?”

The rooftop. Grainy, from all the rain, but clear enough. Rex looked away. He didn’t want to watch this again.

“What is this?” Anakin demanded.

“Mace, this is torture.” Obi-Wan murmured. “Can’t you see it’s upsetting him?”

“Curious, isn’t it, how the footage cuts out just after he’s been shot.” Mace said, watching unflinchingly as the two troopers fought on the roof, and then a brief static moment jumped them to Fives abruptly standing and pointing a gun at Rex. Turning. The blaster bolt. Falling. Then static again, the image gone for good.

Mace turned it off. “It’s almost like the footage was tampered with.”

“You aren’t suggesting Rex had anything to do with that?” Anakin crossed his arms.

“What happened on that roof, Captain?” Mace asked quietly. “I’ll give you the opportunity to tell me yourself before we find out on our own.”

“I confronted him.” Rex said quietly, eyes down. “I asked him where he’d been, why he ran.”

“And?”

“He wouldn’t tell me, sir.” Rex said, looking back up. “He just said he had to keep running, and he threatened to kill me if I tried to stop him.” He kept talking. He couldn’t make himself stop. Anything to keep the Jedi out of his head, away from what he knew, away from Fives.

“I was able to send a signal to Cody, before I caught him on the roof.” Rex explained. “Commander Cody waited on the opposite side of the roof to take him out if I wasn’t able to talk him down. We planned to just incapacitate him, and bring him back to the GAR… except he turned around, and…” Rex trailed off. “It was an accident sir. We were just trying to bring him home.”

“What happened to him?”

Rex took a deep breath. No going back now.

“He escaped, sir.”

~

Wolffe paced in Plo Koon’s quarters, deep in thought. He and Rex had been together when Skywalker collected him, and Wolffe had gone straight to Plo to ask what the hell was going on.

“It’s unusual to see you this concerned, Wolffe.” Plo commented.

“The Captain’s been through a lot sir.” Wolffe said quietly.

“Or perhaps it is because he knows something, and you’re worried General Windu will find out what it is?”

Wolffe stopped, and looked over to Plo.

“You are under no obligation to tell me the things that trouble you, Wolffe.” Plo told him gently. “Though, if it is help you are looking for, I hope you know that you can always come to me.”

Wolffe hesitated, crossing his arms. “I won’t -.” He shook his head, collecting himself. “I can’t betray their trust, sir.”

Plo hummed, folding his hands neatly on his lap. “Loyalty runs deep in you, Wolffe. And in your fellow men,” He added. “I would not ask you to betray them, only that if you are in trouble, I will help you.” A pause. “And the ARC Trooper, should he need it.”

Wolffe jolted, whipping his head around to face Plo Koon again. “How did you -.”

“There was some security footage,” Plo explained. “It was brought to the Council. Most of it had been erased but – but there was enough.”

“Skrag…” Wolffe whispered, running a hand over his face. “Is that what they’re talking to Rex about?”

“I believe so.” Plo nodded. “If he does not tell them the truth, General Windu will find a way to get what is needed through… alternative methods.”

Wolffe grit his teeth, going back to pacing. “They won’t find him.” Wolffe said. “Even if they do get in Rex’s head, they won’t be able to find Fives. He wouldn’t have told Rex where he was headed, I’m sure of it.”

“Do _you_ know where he was headed?”

Wolffe shook his head. “No, and I want to keep it that way.” He crossed his arms again, looking back towards the window. “The less we know about him the better.”

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I stand by the belief that Mace Windu is an asshole and a huge contributor to the downfall of the Jedi.


	19. A Sacred Bond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, you get two chapters today to make up for me missing Sunday's chapter. Enjoy!

“He escaped?” Mace asked, the disbelief evident in his voice. “And how exactly was he able to just… escape?”

“We don’t know sir.” Rex said. _Just keep talking. Don’t let them in your head._ “We – after the shooting we left the scene to try and call for backup, but the rain scrambled our commlinks. We had to regroup and discuss our options. When we went back for the body, he was gone.”

“And why didn’t you tell anyone about this?” Mace asked. “Are you sure you didn’t just – let him get away?”

“He came to me.” Obi-Wan spoke up. “My Commander came to me after the incident. The troopers wanted to come clean about what had happened but feared retribution.” Obi-Wan turned to Mace, almost angling himself between Rex and the Jedi. “It was an honest mistake, Mace. Don’t you think it’s time we let this go?”

“Nevertheless,” Mace continued, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Obi-Wan. “I would still like to investigate this clone’s memories. Perhaps there’s something that he missed that we will be able to see.

“I hardly believe that is necessary.” Obi-Wan said.

“I agree. Like I said, we’re shipping out tomorrow, Rex has better things to do than be privy to whatever mind games you want to try.” Anakin snapped, losing his temper slightly.

“I will be brief,” Mace assured them. “The process is painless, as the others have noted. We will never get to the bottom of this without Captain Rex’s help.”

“I won’t allow it!”

“Unfortunately, Skywalker, this isn’t up to you.” Mace replied coolly. “Captain, the more you cooperate, the easier this will be. If you could please kneel.”

“Rex, you don’t have to do this.” Anakin said, turning to face Rex again. Hesitantly, the Captain took a knee, looking up at Mace and ignoring Anakin for now. Anakin crossed his arms, looking absolutely violent, and Obi-Wan put a hand on his former padawan’s shoulder. Anakin shrugged it off.

“You may feel some slight pressure.” Mace told Rex, and held his hand out over the Captain’s face, closing his eyes.

Rex felt it immediately, the feeling of someone else pawing around his brain. The memory of the rooftop was plucked out of his mind and pulled to the forefront against his will, before he could do anything to try and stop it.

_“I thought you were dead!”_

He flinched at the memory, his hands curling into fists on his thighs. He couldn’t let them find Fives. He wouldn’t let them hurt Fives.

_“I’ll come back.” Fives swore. “I’ll always come back, but until we know the truth, even knowing that I’m still alive puts you in danger.”_

_“How? Explain it to me.” Rex demanded._

_“I don’t know how high up it goes, Rex. I just – I’m so sorry, I promise, I’ll make things right when I can.”_

_Suddenly, Fives was turning, looking past Rex, and Rex looked over his shoulder. He saw Mace Windu, like he’d inserted himself in Rex’s memory, and Fives was looking right at him._

_“Get out.” Fives hissed, glaring at Mace. “Get out of his head.”_

_There was a beat of shock in Mace’s face, and Fives grit his teeth._

_“I said, get out!!”_

_Mace felt himself be yanked backwards, and for a split second he was in a ship. He caught a glimpse of a Zabrak woman, saw Ahsoka Tano in front of him. He looked towards the ship’s hull, and caught a glimpse of his reflection in the glass. Fives’ face was looking back at him._

_“No!” Fives put his hands on his chest, and Mace felt himself being shoved backwards again._

In the Temple, Mace Windu flew backwards, landing with a thud on the far side of the Council chamber.

“Master Windu!” Anakin shouted as Obi-Wan hurried over to him.

“What the blazes was that?” Obi-Wan demanded, looking between Mace and Rex.

Rex collapsed, the world suddenly spinning as he tried to catch his breath. He felt … violated. Like he had been some kind of vessel for a deeper exchange.

“It’s… it’s not possible.” Mace whispered, rising to his feet again as Anakin helped Rex stand on shaky legs.

“What is it? What happened?” Anakin asked, looking worriedly between Rex and Mace.

“The ARC Trooper… he’s Force-Sensitive.” He looked directly at Rex, his eyes cold.

“They have a Force bond, and he’s protecting Captain Rex.”

~

“What do you feel?”

Fives chuckled to himself, remembering just a short time ago when Rex had been the one asking him those words. “Am I supposed to be feeling something?”

“It’s a bit harder in space.” Ahsoka admitted. “But just… talk to me. Tell me what you feel.”

The two of them were sitting across from each other in Fives’ quarters, cross-legged and patient, Ahsoka watching Fives while the ARC Trooper kept his eyes closed.

“I feel…” he trailed off, reaching out through the ship. He could sense life, flowing all around him. Ahsoka, right in front of him, focused and serene. He could sense Tallulah, pacing in the hallway. He could sense her conflicted emotions, the cloud of worry and confusion over her as she moved towards Fives’ room, then thought better of it and turned away, only to turn back towards the room and go through the whole thing again. He sensed a spark of pain, and found Rhokan sucking on a cut finger, nicked from sharpening a vibro-blade. Nanook, up in the hull of the ship, piloting with Fiske at her side. He sensed her excitement, and Fiske’s peaceful warmth radiating towards her.

“I feel… everything.” Fives finished quietly, keeping his eyes closed. “I can sense everyone, individually. They each feel so different.”

Ahsoka smiled. “Different lifeforms have different Force signatures. What do you sense about the world around us?”

Fives focused again, and felt the vacuum of space around him. Tight, suffocating, frightening – then suddenly, bright, and free, and full of energy and life and the _Force._ It surged around him, teeming with power and pulsing through his veins. The Force surrounded him, and it was within him.

“What is that?” Fives breathed.

“Ilum.” Ahsoka told him, touching his leg slightly so he would reopen his eyes. “We’ve exited hyperspace.”

“Is that what it feels like every time?”

“It’s stronger on planets like Ilum, where the Force is powerful and present,” Ahsoka told him. “But no, you never really get over that reentry period.”

“I’ve never felt anything like that before.” Fives murmured.

“It’s overwhelming at first,” Ahsoka agreed, standing up and pulling Fives to his feet with her. “But you’ll get the hang of it. You’ll learn to tune out the noise, and focus in on what’s important.” She smiled. “Come on, let’s go back with the others.”

Fives nodded, following her out and down the hall when he suddenly stopped in place, hissing in pain.

“Fives?” Ahsoka asked, stopping and looking behind her. “You alright?”

_“Good soldiers follow orders.”_

“Yeah. Yeah I’m okay.” Fives grunted, a hand on his forehead. “Just got real dizzy, I’m fine. Probably just more of that reentry feeling you were talking about.”

Ahsoka frowned, but didn’t press him. Tallulah was waiting for both of them just up ahead.

“We’re preparing our descent onto Ilum.” She told both of them, her eyes lingering on Fives. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, great.” Fives promised, squeezing her shoulder lightly as he walked by. “Nanook’s bringing us down?”

“We’ve got the coordinates Tano gave us.” Tallulah said. “Should take us just beyond one of those caves she was talking about.”

Fives hummed, then felt another wave of pressure across his head, spiked with fear, but not his own. Echoes of someone else’s fear, someone else’s worry, sharp and poignant. He dropped to his knees, holding his head.

“Fives?!” Tallulah dropped beside him. “Hey! What’s going on?”

“Fives, talk to me.” Ahsoka moved in front of him too, touching his head gently.

_Rex. On his knees. Someone was hurting him._

_Back in the rain again. Fives was talking to Rex. Someone stood over Rex’s shoulders, watching them._

_“Get out.” Fives hissed, glaring at the figure. They didn’t move._

“I said, get out!!” Fives shouted, and both Tallulah and Ahsoka stumbled backwards as the Force pushed between them, Tallulah skidding across the floor but Ahsoka catching herself.

“Fives!” She called, running back to him again. “Fives, come back to us!”

Fives lifted his head, and looked out towards the hull of the ship. Nanook and Fiske were looking over their shoulders at him in surprise, but Fives wasn’t focused on either of them.

Mace Windu’s reflection looked back at him from the window.

“No!”

“Fives, don’t -!”

Fives put his hands on his own chest, pushing the Force _through_ himself, trying to expel whatever the hell was inside him. Kriff, how much had he seen? How long had the Jedi been in his head?

_You’ve put them in danger. You’ve put all of them in danger. They’re looking for you, now they’ll be looking for Ahsoka, Tallulah and the others too._

“Take it easy back there! Whatever you’re doing, it’s kriffing up the ship!” Nanook hollered, steadying the ship as much as she could.

“Kriff.” Fives grunted. And pushed again, much harder this time. Ahsoka and Tallulah were pushed backwards again, and Nanook and Fiske both flattened against the controls of the ship. The entire _Leviathan_ tilted sharply, and Nanook quickly tried to correct it as they entered Ilum’s atmosphere.

“Sithspit, we went in at an angle.” She muttered, trying to straighten out the ship to no avail. “Everyone better hold on, this might get bumpy!”

The ship jostled sharply, and Tallulah tumbled across the bridge. Fives caught her, holding on tight to her to keep her from falling again. “Commander!” He shouted at Ahsoka. “What do we do?!”

Ahsoka looked around, watched as the hull of the ship broke through Illum’s atmosphere, the ground very quickly coming into view. She held her hands out, using the Force to slow the ship’s descent as much as possible. The banging subsided slightly, but Nanook was still desperately trying to pull the ship upwards and into less of a nosedive.

“Oi!” Rhokan shouted, coming onto the bridge and hanging onto the wall for dear life. “What the hells is going on in here?!”

The ship spiraled, and Rhokan slammed against the wall, Tallulah and Fives knocking to the floor as well. Ahsoka was the only one who remained upright.

“Fives, I need your help!” Ahsoka called across to him.

“I can’t, I don’t know how!”

“Yes, you do!” She said, keeping her hands level.

Fives pushed himself to his feet, keeping his grip on Tallulah.

“I – I can’t!”

“Use the Force, Fives. Focus!”

_“Focus.”_

_He was new to the 501 st, barely a week since he’d survived Rishi and been welcomed into the fold. When he felt the hand suddenly on his shoulder, Fives jolted, the blaster bolt he’d been carefully aiming at a droid target shooting off into the wall instead. Captain Rex shook his head at him fondly. _

_“You’d be a much better shot if you weren’t so jumpy.” He told Fives, stepping up behind him._

_“I’m sorry sir.” Fives said with a sigh, glancing miserably towards his target across the training hall. “Ever since Rishi, I can’t seem to…” he gestured helplessly. Rex nodded solemnly._

_“You know, I find it helps a bit if you think of it like this,” he began, stepping beside Fives and adjusting his arms, lifting Fives’ gun hand and holding his wrist steady. “Instead of looking at the enemy, start looking more at the people beside you.”_

_He pushed Fives’ shoulders back gently, forcing Fives to stand up a bit straighter._

_“It’s not about who’s in front of you, kid.” Rex said gently. “It’s about who’s behind you, and what you’re willing to do to protect them.” He nodded at the target. “Focus. Try again.”_

_Focus._

“Hang onto me.” Fives told Tallulah, letting go of her and planting his feet firmly on the ground. He felt Tallulah’s arms wrap around his waist.

_Focus._

He closed his eyes, outstretched his hands, and reached out through the Force. It was like the _Leviathan_ was in the palm of his hands, the weight of the ship settling between his fingers. The air caught below the ship’s wings, leveling out smoothly. Nanook regained control of the ship, and Fives and Ahsoka together blanketed the ship in a protective shield, guiding the _Leviathan_ safely onto the ground.

“I can’t believe it.” Tallulah murmured, looking up at Fives. Fives reopened his eyes, and looked down at Tallulah, her arms still around him. He sighed softly in relief, scrubbing a hand over his face.

“Wow.” He murmured, wrapping one arm around Tallulah. He looked over her at Ahsoka. The Jedi smiled at him, and turned back towards the helm of the ship.

“Is everyone okay?” She asked.

“Better now. What the hell was that?” Nanook asked.

“I’m not okay!” Rhokan bellowed, managing to haul himself to his feet again. There was a dent in the wall where he’d been slammed into it. “Kriff, Fives, what the hell have you gotten us into now?!”

Ahsoka ignored him, looking back at Fives. “Are you ready for this?”

Fives chuckled. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

He looked down at Tallulah again, hanging onto her for one moment more before releasing her. “This is it.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“No.” Ahsoka told Tallulah gently. “Only Jedi can enter the Kyber caves. This is something Fives has to do alone.”

“We cannot stand aside while Fives goes in alone.” Fiske spoke up, rising to his feet.

“We can wait for him outside the caves, but whatever is inside, Fives must face himself.” Ahsoka reasoned. “Fives?”

Fives nodded, looking around at the crew. “I’m ready.”

Ahsoka turned towards the landing platform, and Nanook lowered it, the crew stepping out into the sunlight.

“Welcome to Ilum.”

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We do love a Force bond.


	20. What Is, and What Should Never Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending it here felt right. Don't worry, this story is far from over. 
> 
> Thank you. From the absolute bottom of my heart.

“What do I do?” He asked, looking over his shoulder at Ahsoka.

“The Jedi called this the Gathering.” Ahsoka explained. “Inside, there are thousands of kyber crystals, but only one of them is destined for you.” She nodded to the wall of ice in front of them. “Every morning, at sunrise, this ice wall melts, and you’ll be able to go inside. But at night, the ice freezes over again, and you’ll be trapped inside.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You have to find your crystal and bring it back before the wall seals itself shut again.”

“Seems simple enough.” Fives murmured, looking up at the wall of ice. It was already beginning to crumble away. “What’ll I find inside?”

“It’s different for everyone.” Ahsoka said. “The Force works in mysterious ways, Fives.” She shrugged, smiling at him. “I’m sure it’s nothing you can’t handle.”

“Maybe so.” Fives chuckled, and looked back across the Leviathan Crew. “Well… Wish me luck.” He said with a crooked grin. “I’ll be back at nightfall.”

“Be careful.” Tallulah told him, arms wrapped around herself. She glanced down at Ahsoka as Fives moved towards the nearly melted ice. “You’re sure we can’t go in with him?”

“He’ll be fine.” Ahsoka promised. “This is what he’s been waiting for.”

“Waiting for what?”

Ahsoka smiled, and watched as Fives disappeared into the kyber caves.

“His destiny.”

~

The kyber caves were breathtaking, and Fives craned his neck to look at everything. The walls, the ceiling, everything around him sparkled with crystals.

So how the hell was he supposed to know which one was his?

“There’s so many of them.” He muttered, looking around.

He wandered slowly through the caves, waiting for something – anything – to jump out at him, to call for him through the Force. He didn’t feel a thing.

“Is it because I’m a clone?” He asked aloud to the cave. “What? Suddenly I’m not worthy of this? Of becoming a Jedi?”

_“You’re afraid.”_

Fives jumped, whipping his head around. “Who’s there?! Show yourself!”

_“You fear what you will become.”_

A dark chuckle echoed through the caves, and Fives grit his teeth. He thought about drawing his blasters, but something told him to wait, to just listen. He flexed his fingers by his holsters anyway, ready to draw at a moment’s notice.

“Who are you?” Fives called. There was no answer, but the wall to his left lit up in an ethereal blue, whispers of voices Fives couldn’t quite make out calling him down the path. He frowned, but followed the voices anyway, proceeding with caution.

The light danced around him, flickering as the tunnel narrowed, leading him into a huge, dark cavern. The light shone brightly in the center, beckoning him forward. He started to take a step, then cursed, losing his footing almost immediately.

“Kriff.” He hissed, catching himself at the last minute. There was no floor, just a straight drop down below where the light was waiting. “What, you want me to jump?”

The light bobbed in the center of the room, and Fives scowled. He couldn’t see the bottom of the cavern.

“This is ridiculous, I’m gonna get myself killed.” He mumbled, turning away from the light before reluctantly coming back to look down the hole again. He had seen the Jedi jump from tremendous heights before, using the Force to slow the descent or catch themselves entirely, blunting the force of the fall. Hells, he’d seen Ahsoka herself jump from a moving ship and land on the ground without so much as a scratch.

_Am I ready for that?_

He grumbled to himself again, turning away from the hole and taking a few steps back down the way he came.

_Only one way to find out._

He _sprinted_ towards the chasm, launching himself out into the darkness and towards the light, only for it to drop downwards as Fives fell right along with it. The wind whipped around him, making his cloak billow out behind him as he dropped gracefully into the darkness.

_Now!_

Fives sensed the ground moments before he felt it, and shot his hands out underneath him, landing safely on the cool stone below him with nothing more than a dull tingling sensation in his feet.

“Amazing.” He murmured to himself, straightening up and brushing himself off. The whispers had grown in volume, and he could hear the voices a little clearer now.

_“Fives.”_

_“Who are you?”_

_“Where do you come from?”_

_“What do you seek?”_

_“Strong in the Force, yes. Strong in the Force.”_

_“Can you see us?”_

_“Can you hear us?”_

_“Fives.”_

The light bobbed in front of him once more, leading him down a narrow tunnel. Fives had to hunch over slightly to fit, turning sideways to squeeze his shoulders through.

_“Bit of a tight squeeze, don’t you think?”_

Fives jumped slightly, looking over his shoulder, back the way he came. He could’ve sworn he saw a shadow pass by the opening of the tunnel.

“Who’s there?”

Another dark chuckle, the same as before, and Fives shuddered, continuing to shimmy through the tunnel until he came back out the other side. The blue light sparkled in the center of the room, and then fell to the floor like a drop of rain. The light bled upwards through the walls and to the ceiling of the massively deep cavern. The light pooled at the ceiling, dropping down through a stalactite and collecting in the center of a single kyber crystal. It hung from the bottom of the stalactite, as if the gem itself were reaching for Fives. Fives felt a hum of energy shiver through him.

That one. That one was _his._

He smiled to himself, almost in disbelief, then looked around. The only problem now was how the hell he was supposed to get up _there._ It had to be at least fifty feet above him, maybe more. He crouched low, and then jumped upwards. His feet barely left the ground.

“Oh come on!” Fives muttered, stomping his foot. “Don’t embarrass me, come on.” He crouched again, focusing, and this time _launched_ into the air. High as hell, but not close enough to reach the crystal. He landed with a grunt and crouched again, vaulting up into the air again, but still nowhere near the crystal.

Fives looked to the edges of the cavern. If he couldn’t jump, maybe he could scale the sides. He took a running start, and lunged at the rocky surface, climbing the sides surprisingly quickly. He got about halfway up before he lost his footing.

“Sithspit!” He slid a few feet down the side, barely managing to catch himself, but even as he did, his grip slipped, and he tumbled the rest of the way down, his save only serving to slow the fall.

When he landed, the wind was knocked out of him, and he coughed, sitting up slowly and rubbing the back of his head.

_“You don’t belong here, you know.”_

Fives grit his teeth. “Are you going to come out?” He shouted into the darkness. “Or are you too much of a coward?”

_“They’ll never trust someone like you. You know none of them really think you’ll get that crystal. They’re just waiting for that ice to seal you in. One less problem for the precious council.”_

“Enough!” Fives shouted, rising to his feet again. “Show yourself!”

Again, the chuckle, but this time it slowly morphed into a cackle, and Fives covered his ears, the sound echoing through the cavern and shaking the walls.

“Who are you?!”

Shadows danced across the walls, swallowing up the light, and the cackling grew louder.

_“There is no emotion, there is Peace.”_

The shadows lunged at Fives, and he ducked, covering his head as the whispers echoed in his ear.

_“Peace is a lie, there is only passion!”_

Fives grunted with effort, straightening up again as the shadows curled around his legs, drifting up his torso.

_“There is no ignorance, there is Knowledge.”_

“What do you want from me?!” Fives screamed, and pushed back with the Force, causing the shadows to briefly subside before they swirled up around him again, wrapping around his wrists and neck.

_“Through passion, I gain strength!”_

“Stop!”

Above him, the blue light flickered. Fleeting.

_“There is no passion, there is Serenity.”_

_“Through strength, I gain power!”_

The shadows forced him to his knees, yanked his head back and forced him to look up towards the kyber crystal.

_“There is no chaos, there is Harmony.”_

_“Through power, I gain victory!”_

The blue light disappeared, and for a split second, Fives was drowned in complete darkness until the kyber crystal began to glow again. This time, it was a brilliant, crimson red.

_“There is no death, there is The Force.”_

The ominous glow of the red light bathed Fives, and illuminated a figure in front of him.

“’Through victory, my chains are broken,’” the man recited, his voice gravelly and dark, like the Dark Side itself was speaking through him. “’The Force shall free me.’”

Before him stood a man, shrouded in a cloak, dressed entirely in black, hands folded in front of him. Fives grit his teeth.

“Who are you?” He hissed. The man chuckled, and the shadows released Fives. The trooper scrambled to his feet.

“Do you really not recognize me?” The man clicked his tongue in disappointment, and removed his hood. “I’m _you.”_

~

“Force-sensitive?” Anakin asked. “How is that even possible?”

“It’s not possible.” Mace said firmly, smoothing out his robes. “He’s been corrupted somehow. An agent of the Dark Side.” He looked at Anakin. “I saw your _former_ Padawan with him. Perhaps they are in league together.”

“You _dare -.”_

“Anakin.” Obi-Wan silenced him harshly, and turned back to Mace. “Mace, it’s not impossible. All life forms have the ability to sense the Force, the clones are no different. It was only a matter of time before one of them -.”

“This should _not_ be possible!” Mace insisted, raising his voice. “What does this say for the rest of the army? There could be hundreds of clones like him, like _us._ We risk a coup, a mass exodus, we risk a threat to our very way of life if these agents of the Sith persist.”

“In mysterious ways, the Force works.”

The three Jedi turned to face Yoda as he entered the room, but Rex could barely move, his head still spinning. Fives. Fives was with Ahsoka. He had been in his head. Fives was bonded with him and _Fives was protecting him._

“Hmm, troubled, are you?” The Grandmaster asked, stepping in front of Rex and tapping his boot lightly with his cane.

“I don’t -.” Rex cleared his throat, found his voice. “I don’t know what to think, sir.”

“Afraid, you are, of what this clone might become, hmm?” Yoda asked Rex. “Fear his power, you do. Worry about his temper, his passion.” Yoda narrowed his eyes, like he could see into Rex’s very soul. “Paved with passion, the road to the Dark Side is.”

“How did you -?” Rex shook his head. “I don’t – I’m not afraid of him. I know him. He’s not a threat.” Rex explained, speaking to Mace now. “He’d never hurt anyone. He’s trying to do what’s right.”

“By deserting the army? By running with a fallen Jedi?” Mace questioned.

“Patience, Master Windu.” Yoda soothed. “See in time, we shall, how this plays out. Face many obstacles, this clone does. In grave danger, he will be, should Dooku find him first, yes.” He turned to Rex. “Return to the Temple, Fives must. Protect him here, we can.”

“With… all due respect, Master Yoda,” Rex said quietly. “Nothing I say will ever bring him back here. He’s too worried about putting me – and the rest of the clones – in danger, if the truth were to get out about what he can do.” He looked sheepishly at Anakin and Obi-Wan. “He doesn’t know who to trust. He barely even trusts _me.”_

“Trust you, he does.” Yoda nodded. “Bonded with you, Fives has. A powerful connection, a Force bond is. A terrible danger, it can be.” He held a hand in front of Rex, like a warning. “Protect you, this bond may, but endanger Fives, it will. Fear for you, he does. His desire to protect you, cloud his judgement it will.”

“But why Rex?” Anakin interrupted. “To form a bond, you have to be _incredibly_ close, both spiritually and physically.”

All eyes fell on Rex, and his throat went very, very dry. Yoda just chuckled.

“A powerful one, is the relationship between a Captain and his men.” Yoda said smoothly, though the look in his eye told Rex he knew the truth. “Built on trust, it is. On teaching, and strength. Loyalty, and understanding, like Master and Padawan, young Skywalker.”

Rex nodded, unable to speak for now.

“Captain,” Yoda continued. “Contact Fives, you must. Persuade him to return to the Temple, you should. Know not, he does, of the dangers of the Sith.”

“And what happens then?” Mace asked. “Master Yoda, this is very unorthodox. What are we to do with a clone in the Jedi Temple?”

“Train him, we shall.” Yoda hummed. “A powerful Jedi, he may yet become.” Yoda patted Rex’s arm gently, and tapped the Captain’s leg with his cane. “Go, you should. Rest well, a long journey ahead of you, you have.”

“Y-yes sir.” Rex nodded, bewildered. “Ah… thank you, sir.”

Yoda just chuckled again, and Rex left quickly, Anakin on his heels. Yoda’s smile faded slightly, and he turned back to Obi-Wan and Mace.

“A secret, this must be.” He told them both. “Know not, can the chancellor, about what we have discovered.”

“Not even the other Jedi?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Too risky, it is. Between us, this must be kept.” He hummed. “Clouded, the future is. Uncertain, I am, of the future of the Jedi, and the clone army. Shrouded in darkness, this plot is.” He tapped his cane twice on the floor. “Investigate, I shall. To your men, you should return.”

“Yes, Master Yoda.” Obi-Wan bowed respectfully, and Mace did the same, following him out.

“I do not like keeping secrets from the rest of the Jedi.” Mace muttered. “And bringing a deserter clone to the Jedi Temple, training him in the ways of the Jedi…” Mace shook his head. “This feels like a Separatist trick.”

“Lately, everything feels like a Separatist trick.” Obi-Wan replied.

“It is no coincidence that this clone was under the command of Skywalker.” Mace replied darkly. “I sense a plot to target the Chosen One beneath all of this mystery.”

“All we can do,” Obi-Wan said. “Is trust in the will of the Force.” He smiled to himself. “I have a good feeling about Fives, Mace. You should give him a fighting chance.”

Mace frowned, watching as Obi-Wan headed on down the halls. “We’ll see.”

~

“How – How can this be?” Fives asked, looking at the man before him in bewilderment. “This is some kind of trick!”

The other Fives chuckled, dropping his extravagant cloak lazily to the floor. “How can this be, says the man with the same face as an entire army.” He drawled. He was dressed head to toe in black leather, his hair long and loose down his shoulders. His eyes glowed, a dark, sinful gold with red around the rims. It was a twisted, dark version of Fives, but Fives knew, deep down, it was _him._ The five tattoo on his temple, prominent and proud behind the curtain of black hair. The scar on his jaw, the one Rex loved to kiss -.

Fives shook those thoughts away. “What do you want?” he asked.

“I think the better question is what do _you_ want.” Dark Fives said, flicking a bit of dirt off the back of one of his gloves. Fives noticed a long, slender lightsaber hilt affixed to his counterpart’s utility belt, and he narrowed his eyes.

“Honestly, Fives.” Dark Fives sighed. “What _are_ you doing here?”

“Getting a kyber crystal.” Fives snapped. “Proving that I’m – that I’m worthy of becoming a Jedi.”

“Always with something to prove.” Dark Fives rolled his eyes dramatically, like he was bored with the whole conversation. “What would dear Echo say, if he could see you now?”

Fives bristled. “Don’t you dare talk about him, you snake.”

“Harsh words. I’m hurt.” Dark Fives cooed. “Or rather, _we’re_ hurt. I am, after all, still you.”

“You are not me!” Fives snarled. “I’d never become something like you.”

“Oh, but you _do._ ” Dark Fives grinned, and in an instant, Fives was backed against the wall, the Dark version of himself had one gloved hand wrapped tightly around Fives’ throat, lifting him off the ground.

“This is what you can become, Fives.” He hissed, squeezing Fives’ throat, Fives’ feet kicking helplessly beneath him as he struggled. “You can become more powerful than you can possibly understand. You’re already more powerful than your precious _Jedi_ will ever fathom.” He released Fives, letting the man crumple to the floor before he kicked him.

Fives curled in on himself, and Dark Fives dropped in front of him again, grabbing a fistful of his hair and yanking his head back, forcing him to look up. “Think about it. You will have the loyalty of your fellow soldiers. You will have the Jedi at your whim. You could control the entire Republic army. Think of the _power_ you could have.”

“I’d – I’d never betray the Jedi.” Fives managed, wheezing slightly. “I’d never betray _my people_ , clones _or_ Jedi!”

“And what about your Captain?” Dark Fives mused, kneeling in front of Fives again. “What will you do to keep him safe?” He tilted his head to the side. “The little one. Tup. What about him? Or Jesse and Kix? Commander Cody? Bly? Even Wolffe.” He sneered. “And the girl, Ahsoka. And don’t even get me started on the Zabrak woman.”

He stood, cackling as he stepped back into the center of the room. “Your little found family. Your… _pathetic_ band of brigands.” He clapped his hands together sharply, making Fives flinch. “Beneath you. Every last one of them. The she-Jedi, Ahsoka, she doesn’t even have her lightsabers.” In a blink, Dark Fives was in front of Fives again, holding him by the chin and tilting his head up. “You could overpower her easily. All of them. You could take their ship. Go back to the Temple. Destroy the Jedi one by one. They have it coming. They’ve enslaved you, enslaved your people. They’ve even _killed you._ Think of Krell.” He grit his teeth, gripping Fives’ chin so tight the soldier was sure it would bruise.

“That’s the Jedi you’d be aligning yourself with. Is that really what you want?”

Fives pushed himself back to his feet, squaring his shoulders. “I refuse.” He said, voice strong. “I will _never_ become you.”

Dark Fives smiled, and once again was in front of Fives within the blink of an eye. “You don’t have a choice.”

He pressed a hand over Fives’ face, and he was _overwhelmed_ with feeling. Pain. Loss. Suffering like nothing Fives had ever known. The screams of a million clones, the dying cries of thousands of Jedi. A deep, mechanical breathing, echoing in his ears.

“Stop!” Fives shouted, trying to push him away. “STOP!”

When he reopened his eyes, Dark Fives was gone, and Fives was standing in blood up to his ankles, thick and tacky and still warm. He gagged, covering his mouth and nose with one hand as the bodies began to bubble up out of the blood one by one. Ahsoka, riddled with blaster bolts. Plo Koon, burnt to a crisp, like he’d died in an explosion. Obi-Wan, with a single horizontal cut severing his body in two. Tup, eyes hollow and dead, Cody, a blaster bolt glowing between his eyes, Bly, a single blaster bolt in the side of his temple, an arm outstretched towards Aayla, who was virtually unrecognizable from all the wounds. Wolffe, facedown, blood seeping into the cracks of his armor. Jesse’s helmet on a pike. Kix frozen in place, rigid, unmoving. Nanook, with her skull bashed in, grey matter leaking from her nose. Rhokan, arms severed from his body, a lightsaber wound piercing him through the chest. Fiske, his hair matted and tangled, a blaster bolt through the back of his head.

Tallulah, at his feet, reaching for him.

“Tallulah.” Fives dropped to his knees in the blood, scooping her up into his arms, holding her close. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m right here.”

“Why?” She whispered, blood gurgling out of her mouth. “Help us.”

“No!”

Rex.

Rex, standing across from him. Arms raised.

“Fives.” He whispered, hands trembling. “Fives. It’s me. It’s _me, cyare._ ”

Fives was on his feet. Hand outstretched. He was lifting Rex off the ground, the Captain clawing fruitlessly at his neck, choking, gasping for air as Fives’ fingers clenched, wrapping the Force around Rex’s throat.

“Fives-.” Rex whispered, his face turning purple. “Fives – please -.”

“You should have listened.” Fives snarled in a voice that wasn’t his own. “You should’ve followed orders, Captain.” He grinned, lifting Rex higher.

“Good soldiers follow orders.”

He clenched his fists. Heard Rex’s neck snap.

And Fives gasped, on his hands and knees, the cool earth beneath his palms centering him. “No.” he whispered, trembling all over. “No I – I have to stop it.” He looked up, Dark Fives looking down at him curiously. “Please. How do I stop it?”

“This is what they made you for.” Dark Fives told him, drawing his lightsaber. One by one, two crimson blades slid from either end of the hilt, and Dark Fives tilted it towards Fives, forcing his chin upwards to avoid being cut.

“They created a monster out of you, Fives. There is only one way to stop what is to come.”

He pulled the lightsaber back, retracting the blades and instead stretching the hilt out towards Fives, offering it to him.

“You must embrace your rage. Embrace the true power of the Force. Let your anger, your vengeance, consume you. Let it fuel you. Only you have the power to save the ones you love.” He nodded once. “Fulfill your destiny, Fives. Become what you were created to be.”

Fives looked at the lightsaber, then back up at himself. Slowly, he shook his head.

“No.”

Dark Fives hummed softly, putting his lightsaber back on his belt. “Pity.”

The dark leather melted away, replaced with Fives’ own clothes. His silky hair was back in a ponytail and braid, and it was suddenly like Fives was looking in a mirror. Not a dark version of himself, but just who he was, and who he would be in the path he’d chosen.

“This is what you will become.” Other Fives said quietly. His face transformed, a massive, gnarled scar slicing diagonally across Other Fives’ face, his nose deforming into a mangled knot, his right eye a milky white, blinded, the scar splicing all the way down to his jaw, the bone visible through the ruined flesh. He was haunting to look at. The tattoo of the five had been destroyed by the scar, like Fives’ entire identity had vanished right along with it.

Lightsaber cuts ribboned Other Fives’ clothes, identical scars appearing on his biceps, his torso.

“You will die.” Other Fives whispered. “And so will everyone you love. Everyone you have ever cared about.” He looked frightened, and he grabbed Fives’ arm, begging him. “Please. Don’t let this happen. You’re going to lose, Fives. You can save him. You can save all of them. You don’t owe the Jedi anything.” He looked like he might weep. “Please. You’re going to _lose._ ”

“Maybe.” Fives murmured, rising to his feet again and leaving Other Fives kneeling. He looked up at the kyber crystal. Watched as it transformed from red back to blue.

“But I have to try.”

He outstretched his hand, closed his eyes.

The crystal fell gracefully from the stalactite, the Force thrumming in the air around Fives as his fist closed around the kyber crystal. He held it in his palm, felt the power of the Force ripple through his palm, through his veins, and felt a wind pick up around him. He turned towards the breeze, eyes closed.

“There is no death.” He murmured. The light appeared before him again, waiting.

“There is only the Force.”

He took to the path, one foot in front of the other, pursuing the light. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part Three will begin posting on July 1st, 2020.
> 
> Until then. <3

**Author's Note:**

> I'm @rowansparrow-writing on tumblr! Come say hi!


End file.
